Log in

Editor's Picks

q._grahamii_beatrice.jpg
Who was Quercus grahamii named in honor of?
Roderick Cameron | Dec 17, 2024
Quercus rubra in autumn
The Tree of the Year Association in Germany selected a non-...
Website Editor | Dec 16, 2024
Image from Enarrationes
A 16th century commentary on the medicinal property of oaks...
Website Editor | Dec 16, 2024

Plant Focus

Quercus magnosquamata acorn
A  little-known species from the northern Zagros forests of Iran

Saving Threatened Plants… with Music!

Do you work with or have access to any endangered plant species (not necessarily oaks)? Or do you know someone who does?

Would you like some help raising awareness of how awesome and precious these species are?

If so, I would love to hear from you!

Tana Silverland listening to an acorn

This coming spring, I will be starting a journey across North America (and hopefully the rest of the world after that), bringing attention to endangered plants… by making music with them!

Some of you may already be familiar with the Plantwave device, but for those of you who aren’t, it is a little device that measures the changes in electrical impedance within the leaves of a plant. It then transforms those measurements into data that can be translated into musical sound by a synthesizer. And with a little help from a human composer (me!), the result is a unique, relaxing musical landscape.

My goal is to make recordings with as many endangered species as possible and create YouTube videos from them—to showcase their unique beauty, raise awareness that “endangered species” doesn’t just mean animals, and generate as much money as possible to help protect them.

The channel is already live at https://www.youtube.com/@LittleAcornsRelaxationMusic. At the moment, it is still quite definitely in its “little acorn” stage, so far only starring the (not-at-all endangered) plants in my garden. However, I will be promoting the channel, giving presentations and demonstrations as I travel, so hopefully it will grow into a mighty oak very soon, bringing the plant love message to a whole new audience of music lovers.

Tana plays the acorn trumpet

If you would be happy for me to come and make music (and a video) with your plants, please drop me a line at t.silverland@gmail.com and I will be sure to add you to my route!

I would also love to hear from you if you have your own YouTube channel, blog, podcast or other social media following, and would be interested in collaborating with me to get the message out even more widely.

And just to be clear: this is a 100% voluntary mission. I am not looking for any sort of remuneration, and all funds generated by the channel (through donations or ad revenue) will be donated to help protect the amazing plants that I have the privilege to make music with. I have already saved up the money for the journey itself, so all I need now is help to connect with as many of my fellow plant nerds around the world as possible! So, please get in touch if you would like to be part of this “world tour” (move over, Taylor Swift!), and please share this post with anyone else you know who might also be interested.

Tana and acorn

And please share the channel link (https://www.youtube.com/@LittleAcornsRelaxationMusic) with everyone you know! The more views and subscribers the channel gets, the more the plant love will spread, and the more money will be generated to protect our precious plants.

Thank you, and I hope to see you on the road!


Photos by @MyPortugalDream