Lanius Profile picture
Amateur birdwatcher, botanist, entomologist, interested in herbology and agriculture. All round nature lover. Longform content: https://t.co/JYaifF8ln7
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Aug 17, 2023 30 tweets 13 min read
Millets of the world, part: the last. As a final homage to the breathtaking diversity of millets, this thread will be a grab bag of short segments dedicated to the most notable (subjectively) species remaining on the list. Expect the unexpected for this one


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Previous thread on finger millet here:
Aug 2, 2023 26 tweets 11 min read
Back to the culture, part X: last time I promised I had a few more millet threads in me, and unfortunately that is the case. Let’s keep our finger on the pulse with a new thread on one of the last major millet crops: finger millet! Image My previous millet thread was on the topic of t'ef, the strange tiny-grained crop exclusive to the horn of Africa:
Jun 27, 2023 29 tweets 15 min read
One cannot reasonably claim to have written about the agriculture and flora of the island of Reunion without addressing one of its most popular exports: rum! Get cozy and break out the ice cubes, lime wedges and cane sugar, we’re gonna make the mother of all cocktails

My previous thread on Reunion talked about the spectacular, Martian landscape of its volcanic highlands
Jun 20, 2023 28 tweets 12 min read
The millet poasting will continue, until the very stars are extinguished. Today I will tell you about teff, or t’ef, a plant described as “the smallest-grained cereal in the world”. It’s not widespread, but plays a crucial role in the areas that cultivate it Image My previous millet thread about Job’s tears, a cereal which on the contrary has very large grains, can be perused here:
Jun 2, 2023 26 tweets 11 min read
Like Sisyphus with his rock, I return to write a new thread about one of the myriad varieties of millet cereals found in the world. I’m running out of economically major ones, so these are going to start to get weird. Without further ado, Job’s tears
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While Job’s tears (Coix lacryoma-jobi) is indeed a cereal (grass family Poaceae) and is part of the Panicoidae subfamily which contains most millets, it’s part of the “sorghum tribe” Andropogonodae, which makes it somewhat distant from the “true millet” tribe Paniceae Image
May 8, 2023 32 tweets 14 min read
Reunion part ?? While rum may be the most famous export of the island of Reunion, the spice called vanilla is surely a close contender as well! While today it’s synonymous with “default” or “boring”, its cultivation is anything but! Image My previous thread in this series on perfume geranium, the crown jewel of Reunion’s perfume industry:
Apr 20, 2023 26 tweets 10 min read
Continuing our detour into Africa’s ancient millet crops, we can now look at the second large family of Sahelian millets: sorghums. Sorghum is in fact a genus of 25 species (only a handful of which are cultivated either for human consumption, or for livestock fodder) Image The previous thread, which recapitulates the domestication and early spread of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) also contains information on sorghum, which followed a similar trajectory:
Apr 4, 2023 26 tweets 11 min read
Always hot on the heels of last week’s trends, I’ve been told twitter has developed an interest in culinary spices, so I’ll write a short thread about that once in a while. #1: coriander, delicious to some, soapy to others (apparently??) Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is an annual belonging to the Apiaceae, a large family of edible and aromatic plants containing carrot, angelica, parsley, parsnips … It’s not always taught in foraging & wild cooking classes because it also contains hemlock, a danger for beginners
Mar 17, 2023 25 tweets 10 min read
As a continuation of my millet cultivation series, here’s pearl millet: we’ll move away from the temperate or alpine settlements of China and go into an unlikely place for a major crop to develop: the bone dry region of the African Sahel Image For my previous thread on the exportation of proso millet outside of China and how it was used in those countries’ cuisines, see here:
Mar 1, 2023 33 tweets 15 min read
Following yesterday’s poll, we move from the world of Chinese and generally Asian-originating cereals for the world of… Chinese and generally Asian-originating pseud-cereals. Good job everyone. Everything there is to learn about buckwheat! Buckwheat includes two species of the genus Fagopyrum: F. esculentum (common buckwheat) and F. tataricum (Tartary buckwheat). They’re known for their nutritional value and their role as a staple crop in high-altitude regions of Eurasia
Feb 22, 2023 29 tweets 11 min read
In the last two threads in the millet series we saw how foxtail & broomcorn (or proso) millet were domesticated, probably in North-Eastern China and remained staple crops in the area from the neolithic until modern times. Now let’s look at proso’s uses outside China Image Here you can find the previous millet threads
Feb 14, 2023 32 tweets 9 min read
I don’t tend to cover current events, but I’ve seen some questionable information circulating on the recent train derailment & chemical spill in Ohio and I’m in a position to give some more measured info about the gravity of the situation in some regards Disclaimer: This is of course an analysis based on extremely fragmentary information and not that much research put into it (as it’s not the main focus of what I like to do on twitter but some easy-to-find information may limit some of the excesses I’ve seen)
Feb 7, 2023 28 tweets 11 min read
In part 1 of our millet thread series we just skimmed the surface of where the two most ancient millet crops, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and broomcorn or proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) originated from, now I want to do a proso millet deep dive Here is part 1:
Feb 3, 2023 6 tweets 3 min read
The Siberian white crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) is a large critically endangered Russian bird, with only 3-4000 individuals remaining in the wild. Its area of distribution is limited to two distinct populations each occupying a narrow strip of land, one Western, one Eastern ImageImage The Western population was thought to be completely eliminated until a single male bird, Omid ("Hope" in Persian) was found wintering regularly in Iran since 2006. This poor solitary bird would spend years without ever seeing a familiar face Image
Jan 24, 2023 29 tweets 11 min read
The time has come for me to make a choice. Keep posting low-engagement threads on tropical holiday spots or tackle a topic requiring actual work. Fortunately for you I’ve been threatened with corvée labour, so welcome to this new ongoing series on the crop plants millet Image The term “millet” is extremely deceptive, as this monolithic name hides a diversity of superficially similar crop plants spread across 2 subfamilies, 3 tribes, 12 genuses and 22 species. Their geographic origin and domestication time vary wildly ImageImage
Jan 20, 2023 31 tweets 13 min read
I finally got through the excellent Parasite Rex, a book all about how parasites live and evolve, affecting ecosystems (and us!) at the same time. Strap in for a few highlights, and remember: it’s a parasite’s world, you’re just living in it… Image PS: spoilered pictures will be graphic pics of parasite infections and not for the faint of heart Image
Jan 16, 2023 27 tweets 11 min read
Reunion, part 4 : requiem for a lost ecosystem. We return to the Western half of the lovely island of Reunion to pay our respects to a biome that was wiped out by human occupation and activity, the dry lowland tropical forest You can find my previous Reunion thread on its heavenly white sand beaches and coral reefs here:
Jan 6, 2023 27 tweets 11 min read
First crop plant thread of the year, about a versatile vegetable that’s the most economically important in its taxonomic order. Beet, besides being good to eat on its own, is the reason people living outside tropical sugar cane latitudes get to overuse sugar! Image Beet is derived from the wild species Beta vulgaris which preferentially grows in sandy or rocky areas along Europe’s Atlantic coastline as well as the Mediterranean. It’s a perennial plant with a variable lifespan which prefers disturbed and nitrogen enriched substrate Image
Jan 2, 2023 25 tweets 11 min read
It’s been raining nonstop for three weeks where I live. In times like these, I think about warm and sunny beaches surrounded by gently swaying vegetation. Come with me on a well-deserved holiday from the miserable winter weather Image Here is a link to my previous thread on Reunion, which covers the topic of the island’s coastline and the biodiversity of its rocky seaside cliffs
Dec 9, 2022 29 tweets 15 min read
Reunion : part 2. Beaches, seaside flora & fauna. The seaside is an important interface for islands as this is where many colonizing species will first arrive. It’s an extremely dynamic environment subject to many changes over geological time periods ImageImage Being a volcanic island, much of the coast of Reunion is comprised of towering cliffs of black rock. Over time, some erode to become beaches of black sand such as can also be found in Iceland, while some areas accumulate more common tropical white sand instead ImageImageImage
Nov 22, 2022 26 tweets 12 min read
Two weeks ago I said I was going to visit Der Lake in France, a hotspot for bird migration in Western Europe. Now is the time to write a little bit about this incredible location’s history and what makes it so special! This is the first of two threads on the topic. As always with real estate, the motto is this: location, location, location. The Der region is located in the region of Champagne, most well-known for the fizzy alcoholic drink they produce from their local grapes, however there’s a subtlety