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The plant that turns a window into a lethal weapon
One of the most annoying sounds of summer is Thunk! Not a single Thunk! but the repetitive Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! of a fly repeatedly banging its
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Unwelcome biting turns Holly prickly
He might be endearing with his cheeky smile and seasonally inappropriate antlers, but Rudolph and his more nasally-challenged cousins could be the reason why holly
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Don’t let your dinosaur become a fiery Godzilla
As a follow-up to our earlier post, this week I discovered Washing State University has an Ornamental Plant Pathology Program(me) with a focus on
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When a lemon and a couple of electrodes aren’t enough
From Rice University comes news taking the lemon, copper and zinc thing into the 21st century. A team led by Arava Leela Mohana Reddy has found
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A future for frankincense
At this time of year it is hard to escape the Three Wise Men, riding their camels across Christmas cards and appearing in miniature form in
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Norway vs sugar maples: a silent struggle in the understory.
I grew up in Michigan, where both Norway and sugar maples are commonly found in parks and backyards. In the sixth grade, we had a unit
AoB PLANTS
News from AoB PLANTS
This summer, Hall Cushman succeeded Mike Jackson as Chief Editor of AoB PLANTS. The new editor is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Sonoma
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A Slice of the Wheat Genome
Considered by some to be the Mount Everest of crop genomes, the challenging wheat genome is close to being scaled. An international team has produced a
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How do cacti have sex?
You might think the answer is "very carefully", but in the case of Opuntia fragilis, it turns out to be "not at all&
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Happy Pumpkin Day to all our American Readers!
Today is a holiday (Thanksgiving) in the USA and most of our American readers will be taking a well earned day off in order to overeat
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Suggestions needed for the ten best of everything: plants for botanists
I’m writing an AoBBlog post (or maybe posts) on ten plants that all botanists should know quite a lot about. Criteria for inclusion include importance in the environment, importance to people as food or culturally, scientific interest, global nature, and evolutionary position. What are your suggesti
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From Mighty Oaks?
To my shame, I’m not a plant scientist, which means I might be about to ask a silly question. But maybe not, so here goes.