Close Encounters
Toxomerus basalis: The fly that uses a killer as a babysitter
Sundews are carnivorous plants that feed on small naive insects. So why does a fly deliberately lay its eggs on the plant?
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Why don’t plants need sunscreen?
Plants have no opportunity to get out of the sun into the shade, so how do they avoid damage by UV-B light? The answer lies in the cuticle, the outermost layer of a plant.
Ecosystems
Spring is coming a week earlier to European forests
Botanists found evidence for the effects of climate change stored in herbaria.
Growth & Development
You can protect blueberries from cold with some help from the Antarctic
Botanists have found a bodyguard that can protect blueberry plants from cold or drought shocks – but instead of protecting the outside of the plant, it lives inside it.
Ecosystems
What is it that makes some plants rare?
What’s behind the patterns of plant distribution, and are there any common features of rare plants? A team of botanists has been reviewing articles to find out.
Close Encounters
Infectious bacteria force host plants to feed them
Not only do bacteria have tools to try to shut down plant defences, pathogens can also try to get the plant to direct water and food to help feed the attack.
Ecosystems
Increased nutrients could help subarctic shrubs mitigate some of the stresses from a warmer environment
A Scandinavian team have examined how climate change will affect nutrient availability for shrubs and found a surprising result.
Plants & People
Kew launches new MSc courses
Mimi Tanimoto of Kew Gardens shares details of their new MSc courses.
Close Encounters
What makes bees feel at home in the city?
A study of the bees of Toronto aimed to uncover what factors help or hinder urban pollinators.
Close Encounters
Ecologists learn how to increase thieving by bumblebees
Bees are more likely to turn to robbery if there are plenty of flowers that they don’t have to rob in an area.
Taxonomy & Evolution
New Leaf Database Could Help Identify Extinct Plants
A new database of leaves promise not only to help identify plants around us, but also to identify plants known only from fossils.
Plants & People
More plants will be ‘losers’ than ‘winners’ in the future, thanks to human activity
Fait vos jeux, but while there will be some winners, the odds are stacked against most plants doing well in the future.