Plants

Monarchs, some frogs and other animals feed on toxic plants or bugs for protection

A Poisonous Diet Gives These Animals Their Own Toxic Defense

From monarchs to sea slugs, various creatures consume chemicals that keep predators at bay

Aspen, Colorado gets around 300 days of sunshine per year.

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2024

From a bluegrass capital in Virginia to a laid-back surf town in Hawaii, these spots are beckoning to tourists this year

The fern Tmesipteris oblanceolata, which scientists just discovered has the longest known genome of any organism. Ferns are known among scientists for having particularly large genomes.

This Tiny Fern Has the World's Largest Known Genome

The plant's genome has about 50 times as many base pairs as a human's, and its DNA from a single cell would stretch longer than a football field

Acorns cover the forest floor.

Why Do Trees Drop So Many Seeds One Year, and Then Hardly Any the Next?

A new paper suggests that plants may use slow seed years to prevent the spread of disease

Baobab trees can reach 100 feet tall, and they support entire ecosystems and communities with their large structures and natural resources.

Scientists Uncover the Ancient Origins of Baobab Trees in Genetic Study

The trees originated in Madagascar 21 million years ago but later traveled long distances by way of ocean currents, according to new research

Where do we get the seeds for seedless fruit?

Where Do We Get Seeds for Seedless Fruit? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Scientists experimented with planting tomatoes, peas and carrots together and separately in several types of soil.

An Ancient Maya Practice Could Be the Key to Growing Vegetables on Mars

Researchers are exploring whether intercropping—a technique of growing different types of plants in close proximity to one another—could be the secret to agriculture on the Red Planet

In more than 20 years of field research, Rakus is the first orangutan to be observed using a medicinal plant to treat wounds.

In a First, an Orangutan Healed His Own Wound Using a Known Medicinal Plant

The primate named Rakus chewed up yellow root and applied it to an open facial wound, closing the sore within days

A variety of plants and animals go through periods where they are dormant or in the dark.

Move Over, Cicadas: These Living Things ‘Go Dark’ For a Long Time, Too

From frogs to orchids, many organisms go dormant or move underground for lengthy stints

Farmer Robert Tomlinson harvests forced rhubarb by candlelight on his farm in Pudsey, near Leeds in northern England, in January 2022. 

The English Farmers Who Harvest Rhubarb by Candlelight

The secret to the world’s sweetest rhubarb? Sealed sheds, total darkness and a little old-fashioned flair

The flowers of the toromiro

How Rapa Nui Lost a Tree, Only to Have It Sprout Up Elsewhere

Before the toromiro disappeared from the island, at least two men grabbed seeds from the last remaining plant and brought them home

Wildflowers, spongy tundra grass and Brooks Range mountains emerge from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Alaska's North Slope.

Alaska's Frigid North Slope Was Once a Lush, Wet, Dinosaur Hotspot, Fossils Reveal

Conditions north of the Arctic Circle, where dinosaurs roamed in abundance during the mid-Cretaceous, were warmer than today, with rainfall comparable to “modern-day Miami”

Leaves and roots analyzed by botanist Mason Heberling

These Researchers Are Digging Into the Understudied Science of Roots

After centuries of neglect, botanists are using new techniques to understand roots

ArTreeficial is a solar-powered, self-cleaning, artificial-intelligence-driven “tree” that entices the spotted lanternfly and eliminates the bug using an electronic mesh.

This High Schooler Invented an A.I.-Powered Trap That Zaps Invasive Lanternflies

Using solar power, machine learning and her family’s patio umbrella, 18-year-old Selina Zhang created a synthetic tree that lures the destructive species

The hollow bone containing the seeds was discovered at a Roman-era settlement in 2017.

Romans Stored Hallucinogenic Seeds in a Vial Made From an Animal Bone

Ancient scholars wrote about the medicinal, poisonous and psychoactive properties of black henbane seeds

The newly discovered tree would have supported a wide crown of leaves over a narrow trunk, scientists say.

Rare Fossil Shows Trees Looked Very Different 350 Million Years Ago

The newly discovered specimen looks like something from the imagination of Dr. Seuss, and it sheds light on a little-understood era of prehistory

Casts of the ancient chewing gum pieces, which were found in Sweden and date to between 9,540 and 9,890 years ago.

Prehistoric Chewing Gum Reveals Diet, Oral Health of Stone Age Teenagers

From preserved DNA, researchers identified which plants and animals the young people would have eaten or used for making clothing—and they found one case of a severe gum infection

An oak peacock moth lands on a window behind dancing wedding guests, illuminated in red light. This photograph won the category for butterflies and dragonflies.

See 11 Winning Images From the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards

Focused on little details of animals and plants, these stunning shots spotlight the world’s tiny wonders

Kelp cultivated in underwater forests could help curb climate change, both because of the carbon these forests capture and because products made from kelp can reduce carbon emissions.

Could Sinking Tons of Seaweed to the Ocean Floor Help Combat Climate Change?

Submerged seaweed can store carbon at the bottom of the sea, but how effective the strategy will be remains unclear

Monarch butterflies' signature white spots could help them fly—and inspire better drones.

Seven Scientific Discoveries From 2023 That Could Lead to New Inventions

Biologists learned lots about animals and plants this year, and their findings could inspire better robots, medicine and environmental technologies

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