The Week in Botany September 14, 2026

Some happier news this week. Via Graeme Hammer is news of the Creative Communication Competition from the ARC Centres of Excellence. I'm absolutely green with envy looking at the paintings. The meme about genomic prediction is brutal, but made me laugh. There are also some good depictions about the reality of fieldwork. It's definitely worth a click.

The deadline for the Chief Editor position for in silico Plants is approaching. The team at the journal is amazing and supportive, so it's an attractive post. You have just over a week to get your application in.

Next week, there will be another email sharing what we've posted as well as the stories you're sharing on Mastodon and Bluesky, and career postings at the usual time next week.

Until then, take care,

Alun (webmaster@botany.one)

On Botany One

Mariana López-Gordillo: The Case of the Disappearing Rose Scent
Botany One interviews Dr. Mariana López-Gordillo, a researcher combining molecular biology, biochemistry and physiology to investigate the genetics of floral fragrance in roses. She asks why so many modern roses don’t smell and how we can bring fragrance back.

It looked like wild garlic
Over 80,000 accidental plant exposures in France, and the deadliest mistakes were mostly made by people who thought they knew what they were picking.

Your City’s Flowers Can Save Pollinators
Study shows how to combine design and ecology to feed urban pollinators.

There was also Science Shared, Sudoku Garden marked a battle, a race, and a vegetable, and Asimina : Pawpaw Fruit was plant of the week. You can also see last week's Week in Botany too.

In AoBC Publications

• OpenAlea.HydroRoot: A modelling framework to dissect, predict and phenotype branched root hydraulic architecture 🆓
• A trait-based approach to understanding and predicting ecosystem services of seaweed in marine forests 🆓
• Cryptic serpentine divergence and substrate adaptation of Cardamine glauca in the Balkan Peninsula 🆓
  

News & Views

Inside the Herbarium at Kew Gardens
The oldest specimens at one of the world’s greatest botanical collections predate Darwin. Now it is open to anyone with an internet connection.
observer.co.uk

From promises to practice: Are Congo Basin forest agreements delivering?
A new State of the Forests report examines whether environmental agreements are translating into stronger forest governance across the Congo Basin.
forestsnews.org

When citizen science strengthens breeding: Award-winning research provides new evidence of tricot’s social impact
When farmers participate in crop breeding as citizen scientists, their knowledge and experience can shape which varieties are advanced and released. But participation can also strengthen farmers’ own knowledge, agency and leadership.
cgiar.org

Decade-long experiment in outback NSW changing the landscape
Once locally extinct across outback NSW, bilbies, bandicoots and bettongs are now back and breeding. The desert's revival has been led by a young couple who moved their lives way out west a decade ago.
abc.net.au

Mental health and wellbeing effects of the academic grant treadmill
It’s grant rejection time again for far too many Australian researchers. Many will have to jump straight on the application treadmill again, only to find out in 12 months’ time that it too was unsuccessful.
ecologyisnotadirtyword.com

‘This is dangerous’: slime moulds and the bitter debate over the nature of intelligence
The long read: Scientists are battling over whether supposedly simple organisms should be considered ‘intelligent’. The outcome could reshape our understanding of the natural world – and our own place within it.
theguardian.com

Four in Five Researchers Report Harmful Interactions During Geoscience Fieldwork. A New Survey Suggests a Path Forward.
A new survey documents the prevalence of harmful interactions that occur during fieldwork. Many instances go officially unreported.
eos.org

Rhizomes and bulbs and tubers and roots and all
It’s not just important to look belowground – we also need to talk about it. I was lucky to have the opportunity to speak with Sarah Wilson on her podcast, Roots and All. The podcast is generally targeted towards horticulture and related topics, but it also features many episodes about plant stories and our curiosity about the world of plants. 
plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com

Meadows: Putting Science into Practice - High Weald National Landscape
The third annual National Meadows Conference was held at Kew Wakehurst on 19-20 June 2026. The theme of the event was 'Science into Practice', with a focus on sharing practical knowledge that anyone can put into action. Those who couldn't join us at the event can now watch all of the recordings.
highweald.org

Engaging Undergraduates in Plant Science Research Groups | Plantae
Despite plants being everywhere, we often ignore their importance. They are crucial for life on Earth, supporting ecosystems, providing the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, and renewable resources for our society. Climate change, food shortages, loss of biodiversity and the need for sustainable solutions – plant science has never been more important.
plantae.org

Science Shared

Three botany papers widely shared on Bluesky this past week were:

1. Boquila trifoliolata mimics leaves of an artificial plastic host plant
Jacob White, Felipe Yamashita · Plant Signaling & Behavior · 1 post · 166 likes · 66 reposts on Bluesky

Upon discovery that the Boquila trifoliolata is capable of flexible leaf mimicry, the question of the mechanism behind this ability has been unanswered. Here, we demonstrate that plant vision possibly via plant-specific ocelli is a plausible hypothesis. A simple experiment by placing an artificial vine model above the living plants has shown that these will attempt to mimic the artificial leaves. The experiment has been carried out with multiple plants, and each plant has shown attempts at mimicry.

2. Fake figs, fooled fig wasps and rewarded phorid flies: brood‐site mimicry and mutualism in Heterostemma ficoides (Apocynaceae)
Kidyoo, A. et al. · New Phytologist · 3 posts · 38 likes · 18 reposts on Bluesky

About 900 specific fig–fig wasp interactions are distributed throughout tropical ecosystems. Despite this ubiquity, floral mimicry of figs (inflorescences of Ficus spp.; Moraceae) has never been observed. Recently, we found a bizarre Apocynaceae, Heterostemma ficoides , bearing globose closed flowers that look similar to figs and are visited by a Kradibia wasp, the pollinator of Ficus heterophylla . Does the flower of H. ficoides mimic the fig to achieve its pollination success?

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · on Bluesky

A milkweed flower makes fake figs: brood-site mimicry and mutualism in Heterostemma ficoides

Kidyoo et al.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/HNYYIN...

View on Bluesky →

3. Evolution in arid environments: the role of betalains, succulence, and medullary bundles
Carruthers, T. et al. · New Phytologist · 2 posts · 25 likes · 13 reposts on Bluesky

The flowering plant clade Caryophyllales includes many succulent species that grow in drought conditions. Many Caryophyllales species also have betalain pigmentation and medullary bundles, both of which have been linked to stress tolerance, albeit with less precise functional characterisation. We investigated the relationship between the evolution of these traits and drought tolerance in Caryophyllales.

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · on Bluesky

#Evolution in arid environments: the role of #betalains, succulence, and medullary bundles

Tom Carruthers, et al.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PlantScience

View on Bluesky →

You can see the full list with more details at Science Shared: September 12.

Careers on Bluesky

Please note these are not jobs I am offering. Nor can I help you with any visa requirements. At time of writing there are around 80 other jobs posted at Botany One.

Cover Image: Dr. Mariana López-Gordillo. Photo credit: Dr. López-Gordillo.