News in Brief
Bacteria living within plants can change them in unpredictable ways
Endophytic bacteria, microbes living in plant tissue, can change how a plant grows. But experiments with microbe communities shows that it’s not in a predictable way.
annals-of-botany
Biofuels grow better when willows weep less
A challenge for biofuels is water use. A successful biofuel strategy will have water-efficient plants.
annals-of-botany
Growing biofuels in marginal land
A problem with growing biofuels is that they can take land needed for food. What happens when you start growing biofuels on marginal land where food crops are not possible?
News in Brief
What happens when a vampire plant ‘bites’ two victims at once?
When the parasitic plant dodder attacks two plants, stress felt by one victim can be passed to the other.
News in Brief
Poisoned soils could be healed with the right kind of cress
Buck Rogers found the land around New Chicago in the 25th century was polluted and barren. But pollution might not be a long-term problem if you have the right Brassica.
annals-of-botany
Introducing MuSCA, the multi-scale carbon allocation model
MuSCA reveals that the topological scale has a major influence on the simulation of carbon allocation.
News in Brief
Microplastic infill for artificial turfs harms grassland species
We’re used to microplastics being an environmental hazard in the oceans, but research confirms it can be a problem on land too.
annals-of-botany
The rare lichen Pectenia plumbea requires a matchmaker to bring its fungus and alga together
A lichen is not one organism, but a community of at least two. If that’s the case, how does the lichen as a whole reproduce?
annals-of-botany
A fern thought to grow on trees still keeps a root on the ground
The Aspleniaceae is a family of ferns, some of which are terrestrial and some of which are epiphytes. A new study has found a rarity, a hemiepiphyte.
News in Brief
A school curriculum could make New York City seem less grey and more green
Far from being an oxymoron, an educational intervention shows that urban botany can have tremendous value.
annals-of-botany
Belowground biomass reduces erosion rates in sand dunes
New research shows that it’s the parts of the plants you don’t see that help preserve dunes from erosion.
News in Brief
Invasive plants’ success may start with invasive pollen
To pollinate you need the right pollen, but what happens when you arrive in new territory everyone you share pollinators with has the wrong pollen?