For our final Feature Plant Friday for 2018, we are taking a look at the pine tree, an iconic symbol of Christmas celebrations across the world. While the pine trees we now associate with Christmas are native to the Northern Hemisphere, did you know Australia has their own native species, including two that are over 200 million years old?

To continue our celebration of Thanksgiving, this week’s featured plant is the pumpkin. While famous for its appearance as Halloween decorations and in Thanksgiving recipes, pumpkins have been used across cultures in traditional and modern medicine, but did you know that they are also related to cucumbers and watermelons?

In honour of the 100 years since Armistice Day, this week we are taking a look at the history of the poppy, which is well-known for its significance as a flower of remembrance. Poppies also have an extensive history across cultures as a symbolic, medicinal, and culinary plant, and have played an important role in the economies of many countries for thousands of years.

To continue celebrating El Día de los Muertos, or ‘Days of the Dead’, this week we’re taking a look at marigolds. Marigolds are an important plant in not just this yearly festival, but across many other cultures now and throughout history, and did you know that they are edible too?

With Spanish National Day today, we’re taking a look at Spanish Olives. Typically pictured as large olives stuffed with peppers, Spanish olives vary in colour from green to black and by region, but did you know that Spanish olives only differ from other olives by their preparation?

As one of the 150 documented species of native grasses in Australia, kangaroo grass has been a key crop for Indigenous and broader Australian agriculture for thousands of years and is one of the most widely distributed grasses in the country!

With Breaking Bread - The Panel, FoodFaith’s discussion on the history, culture and sustainable future of bread on October 9th as part of the Sydney friends of Good Food Month, today, we’re taking a look at yeast. One of the key components in baking for thousands of years, but did you know that yeast isn't actually a plant?

While ‘an apple a day’ has been keeping doctors away since the origin of the proverb in 1860s Wales, apples have a rich history in culture, medicine, and cooking that spans across the world and over thousands of years. Originating in Kazakhstan, apples now come in over 7,500 varieties, or cultivars, most of which can be traced back to their original parents!

While famous as a briny pickle and soothing eye mask, cucumbers have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years and eaten for just as long. But did you know they are made up of more than 95% water and are actually a fruit? Read on to find out more!

You may have seen our post on Instagram earlier in the week for Swiss National Day. So today, we are delving into the cultural history surrounding the elder (or holder in Switzerland), the Swiss native most commonly known as elderflower or elderberry. This magical plant has an extensive medicinal and superstitious history, and is even the wood that the Elder Wand is made from in the Harry Potter series!

An evergreen herb with a distinctive aroma, rosemary has been used in cooking, medicine, and cultural practices for thousands of years. Enriched with meaning from folklore, rosemary has been used to scare away witches, celebrate weddings, and as a token of remembrance on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day in Australia, due to its growth on the Gallipoli peninsula. But did you know that rosemary is also a member of the mint family, along with lavender, sage, basil, and oregano?

To celebrate the NAIDOC week which begins today, we’re taking a look at Lemon Myrtle, a plant that has been used by Indigenous Australians both medicinally and in food for thousands of years. This Australian native has continued to be used throughout history, and now features in products all over the world!

With World Oceans Day today, we thought we'd hand Feature Plant Friday over to a plant that is delicious to eat and dwells in the ocean.

From Shakespeare to trendy restaurants, the popularity of samphires, a family of salt-loving succulents, has risen and fallen over thousands of years, due to scarcity or just simply becoming forgotten about.

With records of its first use dating back to 1550 BC in the famous Ebers Papyrus, anise, commonly called aniseed, has had a long history of medicinal and culinary use across cultures. Although it is often confused with star anise and tastes similar to star anise, liquorice, and camphor, they are all completely unrelated!

With its bright yellow flowers and wish-granting abilities, Taraxacum, better known as the dandelion, has had many uses across cultures and even in traditional medicines, but did you know you can eat it too?

Horseradish is a key food herb of the Seder plate, a focus of the Jewish festival of Pesach or Passover.

Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa and provides one-fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans. 

By: Emma Penzenstadler, Becci Blascak, and Jane Hemmelgarn

Did you know that almonds are now the most popular source of non-dairy milk in the United States? Almonds are a rich source of protein and, with their lactose-free status, are now a staple of many contemporary recipes.

Eggplants are rich in culture and in nutrients. They have a long history in both the Indian and Arabic cultures, dating back almost four thousand years and carrying on through generations. High in fibre and low in cholesterol, there are many benefits to learning how to grow your own eggplants at home.

Pomegranates are one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world...