Cells, Genes & Molecules
The Surprising Way Plants Really Sense Heat
The sweet molecules plants make during photosynthesis double as sophisticated thermometers, revealing a hidden layer of plant environmental sensing.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
The genetic prison that traps a ghost plant
Why would you make leaves that are all cost and no benefit? A ghost plant puzzle is solved.
Ecosystems
The hidden complexity of pollinator networks in gardens
What might appear to be one network of plants and pollinators may in fact be many.
Ecosystems
Is it time to kill the “Mass Extinction” concept?
A story popular in New Scientist at the moment questions what we know of the deep past, and it has a plant twist.
News in Brief
How Heliamphora turns a first date into a last meal
Researchers at Colorado State University have found the genetic basis of attraction – if you’re a carnivorous plant seeking prey.
Ecosystems
The search for gold risks losing treasure
Amazon gold mining leaves forests unable to heal for centuries, because miners carelessly turn the landscape into a giant sieve.
News in Brief
The Swindle That Left Tea With a Bitter Taste
How did a fake Scottish tea plantation fool the finest hotels?
Cells, Genes & Molecules
How do plants respond to hormone signals instead of cellular noise
You might expect the instructions a cell receives to make a flower to be precise, but the response to those instructions isn’t.
News in Brief
Fronds with Benefits
New research reveals how plant leaf shapes affect your mood. Small, complex leaves calm while large leaves energise our spaces.
News in Brief
Snake’s Head Fritillaries Raise Their Heads Again in Iffley Meadows
Rare fritillaries stage remarkable comeback, revealing their resilient dormancy strategy against extreme flooding conditions.
Ecosystems
How Is Human Mismanagement Reshaping the Biodiversity of American Forests?
Human-introduced trees are silently reshaping US forests, eliminating rare native species.
Close Encounters
The Secret of a Plant’s Sexual Attraction Is Betrayed by the Shadow of Its Scent
Botanists discover that plants seeking to sexually attract a pollinator may be hiding their stocks of potent perfumes in overlooked alkenes.