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Plants

The flower of a newly discovered orchid species from Madagascar called Gastrodia agnicellus. It's looks are, shall we say, unconventional.

Behold the World’s Ugliest Orchid, According to Botanists

Surprisingly, the plant’s fleshy, brown flowers don’t smell so bad

The researchers planted some peppers alone in pots, and others about four inches away from a second plant.

New Research

How Pepper Plants Pick the Perfect Path for Putting Down Roots

Two plants in the same pot must find a way to share the water and nutrients in the soil

Sequencing entire genomes from ancient tissues helps researchers reveal the evolutionary and domestication histories of species.

Smithsonian Voices

How Ancient DNA Unearths Corn’s A-Maize-ing History

New study shows how extracting whole genomes from ancient material opens the door for new research questions and breathes new life into old samples

Many types of mosses live in British Columbia.

Will the Slender-Yoke Moss Be Saved?

In the crush of conservation priorities, scientists grapple with how to help an endangered species with no obvious value

This year's top ten titles explore the cosmos, fear and cleanliness alongside narratives about owls, fish and eels.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2020

New titles explore the mysterious lives of eels, the science of fear and our connections to the stars

Can you see the plant in this picture? This small brown Fritillaria delavayi has evolved camouflage in response to heavy harvesting by humans. The more closely the plant mimics its environment, the harder it is for humans to find and harvest the plant.

New Research

Medicinal Plant May Have Evolved Camouflage to Evade Humans

In places where people harvest the plant most aggressively, its color has changed to blend in with the rocky environment

The planets in our solar system all orbit the Sun in one shared plane.

Ask Smithsonian

Why Do the Planets All Orbit the Sun in the Same Plane?

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

One of the oldest living organisms on Earth is a colony of Neptune grass in this vast meadow of the plant in the Mediterranean Sea.

Planet Positive

Why Seagrass Could Be the Ocean’s Secret Weapon Against Climate Change

A vast, mostly invisible ecosystem crucial to our life on Earth is in trouble, but efforts to save the ‘prairies of the sea’ are finally coming into focus

In downtown Detroit, Lafayette Greens is an urban garden and public green space where visitors can watch live music, enjoy local art installations, and take community yoga classes, all while watching butterflies flit from plant to plant.

Innovation for Good

Are ‘Edible Landscapes’ the Future of Public Parks?

Green spaces planted with fruits, veggies and herbs are sprouting across the globe, and the bounty is meant to share

A new chili pepper-shaped device that connect with a smartphone to reveal how much capsaicin is in a hot pepper.

New Research

This Chili-Shaped Smartphone Accessory Can Measure a Pepper’s Spiciness

New device can measure concentrations of capsaicin, the compound that gives peppers their burning heat

Now is a good time to explore the world right at our feet.

Ten Surprising Facts That Will Make Your Walk Around the Block More Interesting

With Covid-19 keeping you close to home, now is a good time to learn about elements of your neighborhood that you take for granted

Agricultural mechanization resulted in the loss of hedges: In 1946, there were an estimated 500,000 miles of hedgerows in England; by 1993, there were 236,000 miles. A neatly trimmed border hedge in Craigleith, Edinburgh.

How Hedges Became the Unofficial Emblem of Great Britain

A shear celebration of the ubiquitous boxy bushes that have defined the British landscape since the Bronze Age

Each bare patch of clay-crusted earth is about 13 feet across.

New Research

The Magical Mathematics Behind ‘Fairy Circles’

Competing theories suggest that the patches come from termite activity, grass competition over water, or a combination of both

Historical pressings of seaweeds, such as this kelp, have proved to be a scientific boon for researchers.

Scientists Use Century-Old Seaweed to Solve a Marine Mystery

A treasure trove of data trapped in pressed seaweed helps explain the collapse of Monterey Bay’s sardine fishery in the 1950s

In southern Italy, two varieties of olive trees, some infected with a disease called Xylella fastidiosa, a bacteria carried from tree to tree by a little bug, and some resisting the infection

Why Tree-Killing Epidemics Are on the Rise

Globetrotting pathogens have caused forest-felling disasters that scientists are doing their best to contain

Autumn near Killington, Vermont

See Where Brilliant Fall Foliage Will Peak Across the Country in This Map

An interactive map predicts when the orange, red and yellow hues of autumn will brighten up the countryside

Parasitic dodders use outgrowths called haustoria to leech water and nutrients from their host plants.

New Research

Parasitic Plant Waits for Host’s Signal Before Flowering

Dodders grow into tangled masses of leafless tendrils also called wizard’s net and strangleweed

A unique moss species thrives underneath translucent quartz rocks in the hot, dry Mojave Desert while its neighbors shrivel.

New Research

Desert Moss Beats Heat by Growing Under Quartz Crystals

Researchers find the translucent rocks keep the moss moist while letting just enough light pass through its milky interior

Chokushi-Mon (Gateway of the Imperial Messenger) and the Japanese Gardens

Travel the World in a Day at Kew Gardens

A new exhibition at the British botanic garden brings the landscapes of ten countries and regions across six continents to visitors

The newly discovered banana cultivation site

Cool Finds

Traces of 2,000-Year-Old Banana Farm Found in Australia

The discovery contradicts conceptions of early Indigenous peoples as exclusively hunter gatherers

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