Misty Twigs

Contorted filbert in the snow (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’)

Botanical illustrations by Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522 — 1605)

Monotropa uniflora // “Ghost Plant”

Ramune drink

“Pushing against its scientific reputation as downright boring, moss in particular served to create some botanical, aesthetic sense of a setting that allowed for illicit sexual encounters and for primal yearnings. The reasons for this strange dual identity of bryophytes as both mundane and as primal are relatively clear: realistically, moss provided a soft bed for sexual romps that had to take place outside of stuffy Victorian homes. Serving, perhaps predictably, as a slang term for pubic hair, moss was understood to be consistently moist and jewel-like, glittering like emerald colonies under light. ” Extract from Elaine Ayers’ essay “Richard Spruce and the Trials of Victorian Bryology”, one of the 14 wonderful pieces to be found in our new book of essays. More details here: http://bit.ly/2fvOeyC (Pictured: Plate 72 from Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur 1904, depicting a grove of mosses.)

Henry McCook - Spider Webs, “American Spiders and Their Spinningwork”, 1889.

Diaphonized Armadillo Fetus

Get your badge in grave robbing, cryptozoology, espionage, curses and hexes, home dentistry, cannibalism, mind control, time travel, necromancy and more. These Alternative Scouting for Girls and Boys Merit Badges were created by artist Luke Drozd. They are available in his store right here.

Toadstools, mushrooms, Fungi, edible and poisonous. 1912. 

witchy woes by courtney columbus