the botanical explorer

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Joseph Simcox

the botanical explorer

Explorers Corner

Speaking Engagements

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Photo Journal

— Quick access to colourful memories of my travels.

In the Atlas Mountains with some of my new colleagues. The regeneration of the world’s degraded areas is not as daunting as it seems and these guys are proof of that!

In the valleys of the Atlas Mountains we found lots of Fig diversity. This specimen had practically loveless leaves.

Most people in our modern Western world don't have any concept of how rude life is for so many. Here my daughter Alicia outside a "10 person" hut in the blistering hot plains of the Dankali depression. Futile arguments against giving birth

Hard physical work builds more than character but not many city people seem to realize that these days! My life depends on hard physical work!

I was here in Northern Norway adding to my roster of natural locations for Mertensia maritima... one of my favorite edible halophytes!

I was handed the rifle and told, watch for wild pigs, shoot if they come at you! By the way....I did not piss my pants... tat is indeed sweat. Just to add... that no one that I know can challenge me with my talent for knowing what plants to eat anywh

Copiapoas what splendors of the Atacama.

We will see the America's freedom prevail. The forces of darkness will not succeed.
God Bless America!

This was an incredible visit. I want so much to back to this region in Northern India. I found lots of plants that i need to go ack and get seeds of. Time will one day see me back there. astounding people and beauty.

When i put my face in all these pictures, it is not because I want any fame, I want to show people that I speak from endless experience. I do not speak unless I know something and have experience that backs it up. We are in a moment when changing you

Zambia and its people are indelibly marked in my heart. here I collect seeds of a finger millet with Zachary Mombu. Grains which have fed the people of Africa for millenia are still relatively ignored by a lot of the world. Finger millet is well used

I was astounded to see this enormous pendant seed loaded Sorghum tassel. This particular landrace was found in rural Zambia near the Tanzanian border. I have raised hundreds of varieties/landraces and have never seen a form so copiously laden with se

A small local landrace Watermelon that I found being offered on the side of the road in Central Zambia. Very sweet with a thin rind, strikes me as peculiar that I did not see more landraces, watermelons are from this region of the world but commercia

The gourd-like warty fruit on the right of this photo happens to be the famous "Loche" squash from the Lambayeque region of Peru. So fragrant is this squash when cut it will fill a room with its aroma. They use one slice in a stew to flavor

Among the oddest of edible plants I have eaten are parasitic ones. They take on an otherworldly appearance, being devoid of chlorophyll like most plants they are essentially "vampires" that suck the juices of other plants. Here I am along t

The caucus region is one of my cherished destinations, I love the people, the cultures, the domesticated crops and the wild food plants that abound. One of my dear friends in Armenia told me that the Soviets used to make derogatory reference to the &

The number of potato clones available to cultivate is only limited by the perceptive recognition of the differences! Growing out true seed (as opposed to planting (seed) baby tubers/or segments of tubers (already clonal)) allows one to the chance to

I thought about delivering a huge load, but I had baggage restrictions!

Now a few people know about the super sized tropical Lima beans, but look carefully at this photo, the beans on the right are not Limas, they are Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans.. this variety is anything but common! The spectacular and huge pole be

Some of my newest acquisitions from northern Namibia. Vigna subterranea, The Bambara groundnut. These spectacular beans are adaptable to the Southern US and parts of Southern Europe. They take about 5 months to mature. very high protein and nutrient

In the Atlas Mountains with some of my new colleagues. The regeneration of the world’s degraded areas is not as daunting as it seems and these guys are proof of that!

In the valleys of the Atlas Mountains we found lots of Fig diversity. This specimen had practically loveless leaves.

Most people in our modern Western world don't have any concept of how rude life is for so many. Here my daughter Alicia outside a "10 person" hut in the blistering hot plains of the Dankali depression. Futile arguments against giving birth

Hard physical work builds more than character but not many city people seem to realize that these days! My life depends on hard physical work!

I was here in Northern Norway adding to my roster of natural locations for Mertensia maritima... one of my favorite edible halophytes!

I was handed the rifle and told, watch for wild pigs, shoot if they come at you! By the way....I did not piss my pants... tat is indeed sweat. Just to add... that no one that I know can challenge me with my talent for knowing what plants to eat anywh

Copiapoas what splendors of the Atacama.

We will see the America's freedom prevail. The forces of darkness will not succeed.
God Bless America!

This was an incredible visit. I want so much to back to this region in Northern India. I found lots of plants that i need to go ack and get seeds of. Time will one day see me back there. astounding people and beauty.

When i put my face in all these pictures, it is not because I want any fame, I want to show people that I speak from endless experience. I do not speak unless I know something and have experience that backs it up. We are in a moment when changing you

Zambia and its people are indelibly marked in my heart. here I collect seeds of a finger millet with Zachary Mombu. Grains which have fed the people of Africa for millenia are still relatively ignored by a lot of the world. Finger millet is well used

I was astounded to see this enormous pendant seed loaded Sorghum tassel. This particular landrace was found in rural Zambia near the Tanzanian border. I have raised hundreds of varieties/landraces and have never seen a form so copiously laden with se

A small local landrace Watermelon that I found being offered on the side of the road in Central Zambia. Very sweet with a thin rind, strikes me as peculiar that I did not see more landraces, watermelons are from this region of the world but commercia

The gourd-like warty fruit on the right of this photo happens to be the famous "Loche" squash from the Lambayeque region of Peru. So fragrant is this squash when cut it will fill a room with its aroma. They use one slice in a stew to flavor

Among the oddest of edible plants I have eaten are parasitic ones. They take on an otherworldly appearance, being devoid of chlorophyll like most plants they are essentially "vampires" that suck the juices of other plants. Here I am along t

The caucus region is one of my cherished destinations, I love the people, the cultures, the domesticated crops and the wild food plants that abound. One of my dear friends in Armenia told me that the Soviets used to make derogatory reference to the &

The number of potato clones available to cultivate is only limited by the perceptive recognition of the differences! Growing out true seed (as opposed to planting (seed) baby tubers/or segments of tubers (already clonal)) allows one to the chance to

I thought about delivering a huge load, but I had baggage restrictions!

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Tales from the Road