annals-of-botany
Sun/shade conditions and seedling recruitment in a cactus
Early life-history stages of cacti can benefit from the facilitative effects of nurse plants that reduce solar radiation and water stress. Miranda-Jácome et al.
Uncategorized
Plant Identification Skills
Taxonomic education and botany are increasingly neglected in schools and universities, leading to a ‘missed generation’ of adults that cannot identify organisms, especially plants. The ‘taxonomic
AoB PLANTS
The Intellect Tree
Celastrus paniculatus, “the intellect tree”, is a climbing shrub with medicinal properties found throughout India. And it’s under threat.
AoB PLANTS
A salty tale of life on the road
Teasels are an important species for wildlife, but they don’t like salt. Will they survive?
annals-of-botany
Habitat specialization through germination cueing
The importance of regeneration to plant habitat specialization has been poorly studied. ten Brink et al. examine the adaptive association between germination ecology and specialization to
Plant Cuttings
Water
Rounding off our look at the elements, like other biota plants need water to live. If insufficiently hydrated they will suspend life activities (at best) or
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Ethnobotanical Treasures of the Dominican Republic
A quick post to highlight a new video up from Ina Vandebroek of New York Botanical Garden. This is about how a botella, a mix of
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Something to Chew On by Mike Gibney
Do blogs sell books? They’ve sold at least one. I picked up Something to Chew On by Mike Gibney after reading his weblog Gibney on
annals-of-botany
Mechanism of pollinator specificity in Ficus
Pollinator specificity facilitates reproductive isolation among plants, and mechanisms that generate specificity influence species boundaries. Wang et al. use two varieties of an Asian fig tree,
Plant Cuttings
Air
Continuing with my elemental theme of recent posts, when air is mentioned then the atmosphere ought to be one of the first things to come to
annals-of-botany
Modelling root pressure using stem diameter variations
Root pressure can contribute to upward xylem water flow but it is difficult to measure directly. De Swaef et al. make continuous measurements of sap flow
AoB PLANTS
Making more orchids
Although micropropagation is a common method these days, much of the science behind regeneration of whole plants from tiny specks of plant tissue remains uncertain.