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.
AoB PLANTS
Extracts from cultures of Pseudomonas fluorescens induce systemic resistance to biotic pathogens in Arabidopsis thaliana
Can rhizobacteria in the soil help plants’ systemic resistance to infection?
annals-of-botany
Where do all the Epipactis orchids come from?
Botanists use the orchid genus Epipactis as a model for speciation, but unravelling its family tree has been difficult.
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.
AoB PLANTS
Unravelling the genetic makeup of hybrid meadow knapweed populations in North America
Hybridization is thought to be a primary trigger of plant invasions, due to short term hybrid vigour of early generations or increased evolutionary potential in later
Uncategorized
Why do cabbage leaves smell? They’re storing sulphur.
Sulphur (S) is an essential macronutrient for seeds, so why do brassicas store it in leaves?
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?