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Plants

A furled chameleon tail obviously takes its shape from the rolling of a tube, but its pattern is distinct from that created by rolling an even tube, such as that of a garden hose. The gentle taper of the tail produces a logarithmic spiral—one that gets smaller, yet the small parts look like the large parts.

Art Meets Science

The Science Behind Nature’s Patterns

A new book explores the physical and chemical reasons behind incredible visual structures in the living and non-living world

Ginseng roots

The Fight Against Ginseng Poaching in the Great Smoky Mountains

A profitable black market for the native shrub pits the National Park Service against poor residents of Appalachia

Workers in Sumatra process an oil palm harvest from the plantation on the left even as the remnants of the natural peat swamp forest in the distance are burned to make way for new plantations.

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Mad Dash to Figure Out the Fate of Peatlands

As the planet’s peat swamps come under threat, the destiny of their stored carbon remains a mystery

New Research

Scientists Catalog Creatures in Every Corner of Los Angeles

In a huge citizen science project, scientists are turning to an urban environment to seek out biodiversity

When quinoa prices rise, do quinoa farmers starve?

New Research

Don’t Worry: Eating Quinoa Doesn’t Hurt Peruvian Farmers

A new study shows that the grain helps rather than hurts

New Research

Genes of Ancestral Peanuts May Help Feed the World

Researchers have sequenced the genome of peanuts and its ancient cousins, which could lead to disease and drought-resistant varieties

Perhaps Magnolia rzedowskiana should be renamed Magnolia interneta.

Cool Finds

Two New Flower Species Were Discovered Online

These naturalists didn’t know one another—but that didn’t keep them from discovering two new magnolias together

The highly regular spacing of fairy circles in Australia becomes visible in dense vegetation. The grasses in the foreground of the image are patchy as they rebounding from fire.

New Research

Mysterious Fairy Circles Have Been Found in Western Australia

Once thought to exist only in Namibia, circles spotted 6,200 miles away are helping sort out how these odd features form

A blooming Amorphophallus titanum corpse flower looms over visitors at the University of Basel botanical garden in November 2012.

What’s on Your Botanical Bucket List?

From rare orchids to grizzled desert plants, experts weigh in on which flora they most want to see before they die

One of Chef Bun Lai's recipes: A dish that features whole fried invasive lionfish at Fish Fish of Miami, Florida.

Bite Back Against Invasive Species at Your Next Meal

From seaweed to lionfish, invasive species are appearing on menus throughout the U.S.

"Lotus, An X-ray" c. 1930's.

Cool Finds

Check Out These X-Rays of Flowers From the 1930s

Dain L. Tasker’s radiographs depict delicate flowers from the inside out

This Venus flytrap is just biding its time to ensure the meal is worth its energy.

New Research

Venus Flytraps Know How to Count

Figuring out when to chomp is as easy as one, two, three, four, five

An eight-year-old Firethorn "Air Bonsai"

Cool Finds

These Levitating Bonsai Will Brighten Your Home With Science

A workshop in Japan created tiny Bonsai plants that float with the help of magnets

This flower isn't just a pretty face—its the first one ever grown in space.

Cool Finds

Check Out the First Flower Grown in Space

It was a close call for this brilliant orange zinnia

New Research

A New Rose Is Part Plant, Part Color-Changing Machine

Innovation has never looked so pretty

Opuntia cacti grow in the desert near Twentynine Palms, California. The area is home to plenty of dry plants and weeds—perfect for the city's annual Weed Show.

At This Unique Flower Show, Weeds Are the Stars

The women of this small desert town have found beauty in getting in the weeds

Montsechia’s origins in freshwater lakes challenge the idea that flowers evolved on land before moving into water.

These Are the Oldest Known Flowers in the World

Found in the fossil record, these plants are more than 100 million years old

Cool Finds

This Giant Van Gogh Painting Is Made of Pumpkins, Watermelons and Squash

How crop artist Stan Herd made an acre-wide ode to “Olive Trees”

By the time the Salt River reaches downtown Phoenix, it is a river in name only. Some scientists think that is why a non-native plant, the salt cedar, is thriving while native flora are suffering.

Age of Humans

How We Created a Monster In the American Southwest

The salt cedar is often seen as an un-killable invader. But are humans the real reason this unwanted plant is thriving?

Setting up sound monitors in Papua New Guinea.

Scientists Are Recording 24-Hour Soundtracks of Rainforests

The bioacoustic data gives Nature Conservancy researchers clues about the health of an ecosystem

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