Growth & Development
Aroid aerial roots answer new pressures with new morphology
Specialization for water retention came from a layer of cork on the roots’ exterior.
Plants & People
State of the World’s Plant & Fungi Collections (Part One)
Plant and fungal collections are seeing new and innovative uses, as well as reaching a broader user-base as digitized specimens, but significant gaps remain.
Growth & Development
As above, so below? Comparing above- and below-ground functional traits
Root systems face different pressures and economies than do leaves.
Taxonomy & Evolution
Complex evolution in an East Asian Magnolia species
Genetic incongruence hints at either ancient hybridization or incomplete lineage sorting.
Close Encounters
Indirect facilitation affects ecosystem functioning in an alpine meadow
Indirect facilitation by a shrub increased forb community biomass and functional diversity.
Taxonomy & Evolution
Systematics of extinct grass species resolved with sequencing of 167-year-old herbarium specimen
The work is part of a trend of increasingly ambitious genetic work on old specimens.
Close Encounters
Greater floral overlap and pollinator generalization favoured in a buzz-pollinated plant
Simultaneous flowering and low pollinator specialization led to greater reproductive success.
Taxonomy & Evolution
Greater Eucalyptus hybridisation on younger, more disturbed landscapes
Older landscapes are expected to be home to older, more genetically well-defined taxa with greater reproductive barriers.
Close Encounters
Sexual deception in Australian orchids
Your chance to catch a highlight of Botany 2020.
Growth & Development
When phosphorus levels are low, mycorrhizae outcompete root hairs in maize
The two adaptations both aid in nutrient uptake, but may work against each other
Computational Models
Floras of the Future: A look at Flora of North America Online
Staying up to date and making all treatments machine-readable will broaden the project’s appeal, but it’s no small feat.
Growth & Development
Microanatomical leaf traits vary across climate gradients in a Great Plains grass
Microanatomical variations underlie the whole-leaf variation seen across the species’ large range.