Ecosystems
Plants drink in unknown ways on gypsum hills
Gypsum soils are dry and can be found in arid environments. Chemistry shows that a surprising variety of plants survive in them by getting water locked in crystals.
Plants & People
What sound does Botany make?
On this site, it’s going to sound like an electronic assistant reading blog posts to you.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Does investigating the seed coat in Gnetum gnemon reveal how fruiting plants evolved?
Gnetales are a puzzle. They look like the closest relatives to angiosperms, the fruiting plants. But when you examine their genes, they appear to be distant. An investigation into the development of their seed coats might explain some of the mystery.
Close Encounters
Do hybrids help a plant expand their range, or do they get in the way?
While hybrid plants might be less successful than their parents, if enough survive they can backcross with a parent species. This can help a parent colonise a new territory.
Growth & Development
Rising carbon dioxide concentrations are making “the world’s most destructive toxic weed” more toxic
Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have gone up by a third since the mid 20th century. Parthenin concentrations in invasive Parthenium hysterophorus have gone up by a half.
Growth & Development
Facing the sun gives seeds a brighter future
Sunflowers might orientate their capitulum, or flowerhead, to catch the early heat of the sun, as well as to shine more brightly in the morning.
Computational Models
Pulling trees from clouds with mobile laser scanning
A new algorithm offers to take up the hard work of turning data points into tree models.
Growth & Development
The rise and fall of carbohydrates in the trees of the north
A new study tracks how paper birch trees prepare for a Canadian winter.
Growth & Development
What makes a pitcher plant’s trap so slippery?
Research into the wettability of a pitcher plant’s trap reveals that its the grooves you can see that make it so slippery – and the grooves you can’t.
Close Encounters
A healthy sunflower diet can help domesticated bumblebees avoid infection
Sunflower pollen can reduce parasite load for a bumblebee, but it’s not clear how.
Growth & Development
A conifer study reveals how a changing climate could make commercial forestry more complicated
In an unpredictable future climate, planting for less climate sensitivity may prove wiser than attempting to find trees geared for warmer weather.
Close Encounters
Rising sea levels influence a battle to beat the shade in plants
Increasing salinity could free some shade-averse plants from the shadows of their neighbours.