Plants

Folium was used to illustrate illuminated manuscripts—and color the rind of a popular Dutch cheese.

Researchers Follow a 15th-Century Recipe to Recreate Medieval Blue Ink

The purplish-blue pigment, derived from a Portuguese fruit, fell out of use by the 19th century

Farm workers loading apples onto a truck in an orchard, circa 1965.

Ten Apple Varieties Once Thought Extinct Rediscovered in Pacific Northwest

The "lost" apples will help restore genetic, culinary diversity to a crop North America once produced in astonishing variety

Delicate blossoms might get knocked down, but they get up again.

How Flowers Marvelously Evolved Resilience

Blossoms contort and twist back into optimal pollination position after getting bumped and battered

Arches made of yellow orchids as seen at the New York Botanical Garden.

Watch These Six Flower Bloom Events From Your Couch

Tulips, cherry blossoms and orchids supply a ray of hope during self-isolation

The tobacco mosaic virus seen under 160,000× magnification

How a Few Sick Tobacco Plants Led Scientists to Unravel the Truth About Viruses

With the COVID-19 coronavirus causing a global pandemic, a look back at the scientists who figured out viruses and their relationship to disease

Just in time for this year's bloom, Smithsonian Books presents a delightful new offering Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress.

Not All Cherry Blossoms Are the Same

View these vivid illustrations by Japanese artist Kōkichi Tsunoi of the varieties of trees presented to the United States in 1912

The blue-throated barbet, illustrated here in 1871, is native to southern Asia.

You Can Now Download 150,000 Free Illustrations of the Natural World

The artworks, collected by the open-access Biodiversity Heritage Library, range from animal sketches to historical diagrams and botanical studies

Subtle changes in genetics can have major effects on how leaves grow into a wide variety of shapes.

Deciphering the Weird, Wonderful Genetic Diversity of Leaf Shapes

Researchers craft a new model for plant development after studying the genetics of carnivorous plants’ cup-shaped traps

Ginkgo trees, which produce characteristic fan-shaped leaves, can live for thousands of years.

A Genetic Elixir of Life Helps Millennia-Old Ginkgo Trees Escape Death

These trees have developed an army of molecular weapons to stay healthy in old age

Photosynthetic bacteria in the concrete make it bright green until it dries and turns brown.

Scientists Design Bacteria-Based Living Concrete

Its designers hope that it could help with construction in deserts or even on Mars

Engineered with genes that boost its beta-carotene content, golden rice (top) comes with a yellowish hue that makes it stand out from typical white rice (bottom)

Golden Rice Approved as Safe for Consumption in the Philippines

The genetically modified crop could help combat the country’s vitamin A deficiency

These gene-edited tomatoes grow in grape-like clusters, rather than on long vines.

Gene-Edited Tomatoes Grow in Bunches Like Grapes, Making Them Ideal for Urban Farming

Growing food in urban environments could have important implications for sustainability—if we can produce crops that thrive in tight spaces

An aerial view of a fossil of Archaeopteris, a 385-million-year-old tree with surprisingly modern-looking roots.

The World’s Oldest Forest Has 385-Million-Year-Old Tree Roots

A trove of arboreal fossils pushes back the origin of modern forests and sophisticated tree roots

Yellowstone Bison Engineer an Endless Spring to Suit Their Grazing Needs

The cycle of grazing and fertilizing prolongs spring-like vegetation in grasslands and makes green-up more intense in following years

Sunlight-Tracking Polymer, Inspired by Sunflowers, Could Maximize Solar Power

The SunBOTS bend toward light source and could help solar cells capture more direct sunlight all day long

Mosses Expand the Story of Ötzi the Iceman's Final Journey

Seventy-five species of mosses and liverworts found in and around his body suggest he climbed the alps via a difficult gorge

Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History are filled with all sorts of eerie specimens.

Six Bewitching Smithsonian Specimens to Get You Ready for Halloween

Check out some of the spookiest (read: coolest) items in the National Museum of Natural History's collections.

The Global Change Environmental Research Wetland spans 173 acres in Edgewater, Maryland.

Marshes Grow Stronger When Faced With Increased Carbon Dioxide

Marsh plants respond to increased CO2 by growing many small stems, creating a denser wetland that may protect against sea level rise

Sochan, a relative of the sunflower, can grow up to ten feet tall. Packed with vitamins and minerals, it rivals kale as a nutritional powerhouse.

Cherokee Indians Can Now Harvest Sochan Within a National Park

For the first time, the indigenous community is allowed to gather the cherished plant on protected land

Once Thought to Be Extinct, This Lucky Clover Has Recovered Enough to Come Off the Endangered List

Running Buffalo Clover, which once spread on trampled ground left by bison, has made a comeback in the Midwest and Appalachians

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