Plants

Male flowers of the striped maple tree.

The Mystery of the Sex-Changing Striped Maple Trees

Yes, trees can be male or female. And sometimes they switch it up

Driftwood is a valuable resource for humans and all kinds of ecosystems near and far.

How Driftwood Reshapes Ecosystems

In one of nature’s remarkable second acts, dead trees embark on transformative journeys

What Sedated Plants Can Teach Scientists About Anesthetizing People

The same drugs that knock us out or numb our wounds can also be used on our leafy friends

The fruit that bursts with contradictions.

The Toxic Rise of the California Strawberry

Growing this popular fruit year-round has long relied on harmful chemicals. Is there another way?

The stunning image that opens the Siphonophorae chapter in The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel. Each gelatinous siphonophore is actually a group of colonial organisms all living and working together. To grow, they clone themselves—each new minion specialized for a specific function.

This 19th-Century Illustrator Found Beauty in the Slimiest of Sea Creatures

A new book chronicles Ernst Haeckel's life and his gorgeous renderings of wild things—scales, spikes, tentacles and all

The Enduring Romance of Mistletoe, a Parasite Named After Bird Poop

Nine things you should know about our favorite Christmas plant

Kono Yasui at Tokyo University.

How a Pioneering Botanist Broke Down Japan’s Gender Barriers

Kono Yasui was the first Japanese woman to publish in an academic journal, forging a new path for women in her country

The reproductive organs of Schlumbergera, known as the Holiday Cactus. This was heady stuff in Erasmus Darwin's time.

Charles Darwin’s Grandfather Was Famous for His Poems About Plant Sex

Erasmus Darwin’s poetics influenced his grandson’s vision of nature

Aerial view of the Amazon Rainforest near Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

Brazil Begins Effort to Plant 73 Million Trees in the Amazon

The experiment in reforestation involves spreading native seeds instead of planting saplings

Even the venus fly trap, which takes an active role in catching its prey, is almost nothing like us.

Getting to the Roots of "Plant Horror"

From the serious—pod people—to the farcical—”feed me, feed me!”—this genre has produced some strange stuff

A cross-section of the fossilised cladoxylopsid found in Xinjiang, China.

Ancient Trees "Ripped Their Skeletons Apart" To Grow

Cross-sections of 374-million-year-old tree trunks revealed a complex web of woody strands that split and repaired themselves

The molds responsible for aflatoxins grow on a number of staple crops, including corn, peanuts, millet, wheat, cottonseed and tree nuts.

Could Video Gamers Make Our Food Supply Safer?

An effort to combat poisonous molds that contaminate crops is looking to tap the puzzle-solving skills of amateur gamers

How Flowers Manipulate Light to Send Secret Signals to Bees

Come-hither blue haloes are just one of the effects employed by nature’s first nanotechnologists

Jutras came close to the record a few years ago, but his squash split, disqualifying it from competition. This year, he wasn't taking any risks.

Massive Green Squash Smashes Record for World's Largest

Joe Jutras' 2118-pound squash makes him the first person to earn the record for largest pumpkin, longest gourd and heaviest squash

It seems that it’s only a matter of time before we have the technology for switchgrass, shown here, to replace corn as a feedstock for ethanol.

The Next Generation of Biofuels Could Come From These Five Crops

Researchers are currently developing biofuels from these abundant species, which require relatively little land, water and fertilizer

Botanic Gardens May Be Endangered Species' Best Bet

Survey shows the institutions preserve one third of Earth's plant life and 40 percent of endangered plant species

The better we can track hydration in plants, the more we can avoid both over- and under-watering our crops.

This Snap-On Sensor Could Tell Farmers Exactly How Much To Water Their Crops

A team at Penn State University is developing a clip-on leaf sensor that measures water stress on individual plants

Koalas eat 200 to 500 grams of eucalyptus a day. So when all shipping routes go down, what's an animal nutritionist to do?

When Disaster Strikes, the Zoo Must Go On

Zoo nutritionists have the Herculean task of feeding thousands of charges, come hurricane, tornado or terrorist attack

Why Are Some Leaves Massive and Others Minuscule?

Researchers have found that the rainfall, sunshine and the threat of frost or overheating set the maximum size for leaves

Arborists gather around the "Big Tree" last year to remove soil that had built up around its base.

Despite Harvey's Wrath, This 1,000-Year Old Tree Still Stands Tall

The Big Tree has survived at least 40 hurricanes

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