Ambrosia trifida, the giant ragweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.
 

Distribution

It is present in Europe and Asia as an introduced species, and it is known as a common weed in many regions. Its common names include great ragweed, Texan great ragweed, giant ragweed, tall ragweed, blood ragweed, perennial ragweed, horseweed,buffaloweed, and kinghead.

Description

This is an annual herb usually growing up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall, but known to reach over 6 m (20 ft) in rich, moist soils. The tough stems have woody bases and are branching or unbranched. Most leaves are oppositely arranged. The blades are variable in shape, sometimes palmate with five lobes, and often with toothed edges. The largest can be over 25 cm (9.8 in) long by 20 cm (7.9 in) wide. They are borne on petioles several centimeters long. They are glandular and rough in texture. The species is monoecious, with plants bearing inflorescences containing both pistillate and staminate flowers. The former are clustered at the base of the spike and the latter grow at the end. The fruit is a bur a few millimeters long tipped with several tiny spines.

As a weed

This species is well known as a noxious weed, both in its native range and in areas where it is an introduced and often invasive species. It is naturalized in some areas, and it is recorded as an adventive species in others. It grows in many types of disturbed habitat, such as roadsides, and in cultivated fields. Widespread seed dispersal occurs when its spiny burs fall off the plant and are carried to new habitat by people, animals, machinery, or flowing water. The plant is destructive to native and crop plants because it easily outcompetesthem for light.

Herbicide resistant giant ragweed populations were first identified in the late 1990s. Across much of the midwestern United States, populations resistant to group 2 (ALS-inhibitors) and group 9 (glyphosate) are present, though resistant to multiple herbicide modes of action has not yet been documented. There remains concern that herbicide resistance is more widespread than documented and many states like Minnesota offer free screening of giant ragweed for herbicide resistance. For chemical control, use of group 4 (2-4D) and group 10 (glufosinate) are effective.

As an allergen

Also, interest is great in preventing the spread of this plant because its pollen is a significant human allergen. It is one of the most familiar allergenic ragweeds, and residents of different regions begin to experience allergic symptoms as the plant spreads into the area.

Uses

Native Americans had a number of uses for the plant as traditional medicine. The Cherokeeused it as a remedy for insect stings, hives, fever, and pneumonia, and the Iroquois used it to treat diarrhea.

Giant ragweed has been used successfully as a compost activator and an ingredient in sheet mulch gardens.

Boggy Creek, located in the heart of Austin, Texas, is a hidden gem that often gets overshadowed by its more famous counterparts, Waller Creek and Shoal Creek. While it may not enjoy the same level of prominence, Boggy Creek has its own unique charm and ecological significance. Over the years, it has undergone several restoration efforts, turning it into a thriving environment teeming with local flora and fauna. Rich in biodiversity and offering serene landscapes, Boggy Creek deserves its own spotlight, for it has just as much to offer to the community and to those who seek the solace of nature within the bustling city.

A wandering steward of stories and seedlings, moving between libraries and creeks with pockets full of cuttings and unfinished sentences, leaving behind fragments that root themselves into community.

A laundromat refashioned from an industrial husk, its machines rumored to cleanse more than fabric, sometimes spinning open seams into hidden archives where memory and city overlap.

Welcome, intrepid explorer! You find yourself standing on the First Floor of the sprawling ReLeaf Organic Media Collections & Botanical Gardens. A sense of wonder washes over you as you realize you're surrounded by a wealth of knowledge and natural beauty.

Directly ahead, you see two grand, ornate doors. Each door leads to one of the most visited rooms within this treasure trove of a library. One door is adorned with intricate designs of rivers and creeks, signaling the entrance to the Watersheds Collection. The other door is decorated with an array of book spines, bookmarks, and paper leaves, inviting you into the Big Free Library.

In the Watersheds Collection, you can immerse yourself in writings and other media that celebrate beloved watersheds like Shoal Creek, Waller Creek, and even Marigold Town's very own Settler's Creek. It's a room where each creek, river, and tributary tells its own story, awaiting your discovery.

Alternatively, step into the Big Free Library—a haven for book lovers. This ever-growing collection is dedicated to promoting the circulation of books and other forms of organic media. Here, every shelf offers a new adventure, a new perspective, and an opportunity to engage with the world in a different way.

Now, adventurer, the choice is yours: Which room will you explore first?

Nestled in East Austin, Fort Branch is a lesser-known but equally important waterway that contributes to the city’s ecological and community landscape. Unlike its more renowned neighbors such as Waller Creek and Shoal Creek, Fort Branch often flies under the radar. However, this should not diminish its significance. The area has been the subject of various improvement projects, aimed at enhancing both its natural ecosystem and its accessibility to the public. Serving as a sanctuary for local wildlife and a peaceful retreat for residents, Fort Branch is an underappreciated treasure that warrants greater recognition and appreciation.

Future Austin invites you to explore a luminous vision of the city’s tomorrow—where imagination and reality intertwine to create a thriving, sustainable urban landscape. Here, grassroots ingenuity and cutting-edge technology power communities, transforming Austin into a place of boundless possibility.

Through insightful articles and evocative Organic Fiction, you’ll glimpse futures shaped by innovators like ReLeaf, whose bold strategies—such as Vertical Garden Fairs in schools—seed green revolutions in unexpected places.

From unconventional movements like Trash Magic reimagining music distribution, to fictional worlds alive with unseen energy and harmony, this collection offers both practical inspiration and immersive storytelling.

Whether you’re drawn to actionable sustainability or simply wish to lose yourself in tales of a resilient, radiant future, Future Austin points toward the city we could create—and the one we must.

Floating twenty-faced purifiers seeded in Austin’s creeks and lakes, each facet filtering toxins while refracting sunlight into shifting mosaics of clean water and hope.

The rapid pace of urbanization and its environmental impact has inspired various speculative genres in literature and media. Organic Media and Fiction, a recent addition, offers a refreshing counter-narrative to dystopian futures, focusing on optimistic, sustainable societies powered by renewable energies. ReLeaf, an Organic Media and Fiction-inspired platform, epitomizes this genre by blending reality with narratives that envision a world where humans coexist harmoniously with nature and technology.

ReLeaf's ethos is rooted in the belief that a hopeful future of sustainable living is not just an ideal but a reality. It combines engaging storytelling, visual arts, and direct action to showcase the possibilities of an Organic Media and Fiction future. By merging immersive narratives with tangible solutions, ReLeaf serves as both a creative outlet and a catalyst for change.

The narratives in ReLeaf are set in cities that integrate renewable energy and green technology into their architecture, infrastructure, and daily life. From urban gardens atop skyscrapers to solar-powered public transport, these stories offer a glimpse of future urban landscapes grounded in existing technologies and practices. They provide an encouraging perspective on how our cities could evolve by amplifying sustainable practices we are already exploring.

ReLeaf's stories feature diverse, inclusive, and community-oriented societies, emphasizing social justice, community empowerment, and equitable resource distribution. These narratives reflect societal structures that could foster a balanced coexistence, highlighting the importance of these values in creating a sustainable future.

Beyond storytelling, ReLeaf engages in direct action, promoting real-world initiatives that echo Organic Media and Fiction principles. By supporting community-led renewable energy projects and sustainable urban farming, ReLeaf bridges the gap between the Organic Media and Fiction vision and our present reality, making the dream of a sustainable future feel achievable.

ReLeaf broadens the understanding of the Organic Media and Fiction genre by presenting a balanced blend of reality and narrative. It underscores that Organic Media and Fiction is not just a literary genre or aesthetic movement, but a lens through which we can view and shape our future.

The Organic Media and Fiction vision put forth by ReLeaf invites us to imagine, innovate, and create a future where sustainability is the norm. By intertwining fiction with reality, it presents Organic Media and Fiction as a plausible future, offering a hopeful counterpoint to narratives of environmental doom. ReLeaf helps us believe in—and strive for—a future where humans live in harmony with nature and technology.

Engineered flora that metabolize attention and exhale ornament while training caretakers to keep clapping.

The unseen layers of a city where innovation and secrecy grow side by side.

Shoal Creek is changing. At the Seaholm Intake, the water and stone hold a new role for the city. Engineers and naturalists are close to confirming a time-bending effect in the current. Short pulses move both downstream and upstream. Standing near the intake leaves people rested and clear, as if a long afternoon just ended.

This site becomes a public time commons. The cooled chambers host sensors and quiet rooms. The walkway links to Central across the water. The mycelium network listens, then routes what the creek gives: steadier attention, better recall, and a calm pace for work and care.

What to expect:

Check-in stones that log a short visit and return a focus interval

Benches that sync with the flow and guide five-minute rest cycles

A simple light on the rail that signals when the current flips

A small desk for field notes and shared observations

Open data on pulse times so neighbors can plan repairs, study, and gatherings

Invitation

Come without hurry. Sit by the intake. Let the water set your pace. Then carry that steadiness back into the city.

TRASH MAGIC SKELETRON!

SKELETRON IS A SET OF SELF-REPLICATING GEOMETRIC CONSTRUCTIONS USING STICKS, CORDS, AND THE PRICIPLE OF TENSEGRITY!

DRILL HOLES IN THE ENDS OF STICKS! CUT CORDS TO ABOUT 18 INCHES(ONE CUBIT) IN LENGTH AND TIE THEM INTO SQUARE KNOTS TO CONNECT VERTICES!

USE THE PLATONIC SOLIDS TO CONSTRUCT WORLDS OF GEOMETRY!

BUILD FULL TRASH MAGIC UP AND DOWN EVERY RIVER VALLEY IN THE PLANET! AND CREEKS!

A hybrid cactus that bears strawberry-like fruit, blending desert resilience with unexpected sweetness.

In the heart of downtown Austin, the ReLeaf's Trash Transmutation Towers have become an innovative addition to the city's skyline. Located at the intersection of Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street, these vertical gardens are part of an ambitious sustainable urban network by ReLeaf. An engraved compass rose at the pedestrian walkway is a hyper-connected point on ReLeaf’s W.A.S.T.E. (Words Assisting Sustainable Transformation & Ecology) network. It unites other ReLeaf sites throughout the city, converting waste to wealth. Within this network is the magic of the HyperSeed, a digital-organic fusion designed to grow into a new Trash Transmutation Tower, turning waste into green construction materials. ReLeaf's W.A.S.T.E. platform represents a blend of digital technology and ecological wisdom, illustrating a sustainable future for urban living.

Walnut Creek is a 23-mile (37 km) long tributary stream of the Colorado River in Texas. It flows from north to south, crossing the Edwards Plateau on the western side of Austin, down to the Blackland Prairie on the eastern side of the city where it then drains into the Colorado River downstream of Longhorn Dam. The stream's upper region flows over limestone, while the southern stretch passes through deeper clay soils and hardwood forest. Walnut Creek's watershed, spanning 36,000 acres (15,000 ha), is the largest in Central Austin.