Plants

One of the stinky blooms at the U.S. Botanic Garden just starting to open last year.

A Triplet of Corpse Flowers Will Soon Release Their Stench in D.C.

If you can't make it to D.C., you can still catch the action (smell free) via live stream

A group of Giant South American turtles gather in this image taken in the Cantão State Park, in Tocantins, Brazil. Though this is an intensely biodiverse region—perhaps even more so than the Amazon ecosystem—it is poorly known.

Photo Competition Highlights Splendor of Earth’s Ecosystems

The winning and commended images of BMC Ecology’s fifth annual photo contest are now available online

Scientists Unlock Magic Mushrooms' Mysterious Chemical Compound

A new study has uncovered the enzymatic pathways that allow 'shrooms to make psilocybin

Salicylic acid, the main ingredient in aspriin, is found in a number of plants, including jasmine, beans, peas and clover as well as willow trees.

Aspirin's Four-Thousand-Year History

It's 2000 B.C. and you have a headache. Grab the willow bark

The Joshua tree is one of the Mojave Desert's most iconic inhabitants. But it's under threat—and the key to saving it may lie in better understanding its tiny winged partner.

How a Tree and Its Moth Shaped the Mojave Desert

The partnership between the Joshua tree and the yucca moth may be key to understanding how plants and insects co-evolve

This 3D recreation depicts what scientist believe the ancestor of all modern flowers looked like

What Did the Ancestor of All Flowers Look Like?

Tracing back the genetic tree of flowering plants millions of years, scientists recreate the predecessor of Earth's flowers

Gwen Johnson, 11, and other members of the 4-H club in Pleasant Hill, CA, planted lettuces at a public park this past spring.

The Complicated Growth of 4-H

4-H boasts a far more complicated backstory than those blue ribbons would have you believe

Beet armyworm caterpillars turned to eating each other when the leaves they were placed on were made to taste foul.

Strong Plant Defenses Made These Hungry Caterpillars Eat Each Other

When left with the choice of nasty-tasting plants or each other, the choice is clear for the beet armyworm caterpillar

Tree rings are easiest to see in trees that grew in temperate places, because the temperature changes at different times of the year.

Why an Astronomer Turned to Trees to Try to Solve a Celestial Mystery

Andrew Ellicott Douglass's theory of sunspots and climate was wrong, but he still pioneered the science of tree-ring dating

Compared with the trees, lianas are able to put more energy into the production of leaves and seeds and less towards growing a trunk.

Tarzan's Favorite Mode of Travel, the Liana Vine, Chokes Off a Tree's Ability to Bear Fruit

With lowered fruit production, fewer seeds are dispersed to grow new trees

Early shoots of thale cress sprout in their case of transparent gel on the space station. This is the same type of plant examined in this latest study for its "brain."

Seeds May Use Tiny "Brains" to Decide When to Germinate

Two clumps of cells send hormone signals to each other to help determine when the time has come to sprout

Screenshots from the iNaturalist app, which uses "deep learning" to automatically identify what bug—or fish, bird, or mammal—you might be looking at.

AI Plant and Animal Identification Helps Us All Be Citizen Scientists

Apps that use artificial intelligence to allow users to ID unknown specimens are making science more accessible to everyone.

Is Australia’s Dingo-Proof Fence Changing the Ecosystem of the Outback?

A new study says yes, but it’s complicated

The ginkgo biloba or Maidenhair tree has been around for at least 270 million years, making it the botanical equivalent of the shark.

The World Told Through the Eyes of the Ginkgo Tree

By deciding this ancient plant was worthy of their attention, humans ended up dramatically shaping its evolution

Tea leaves

Researchers Read the Genome in the Tea Leaves

It's massive—four times that of coffee

Unlikely savior: The remarkable properties of spaghnum moss help preserve long-dead bodies, sequester carbon and even heal wounds.

How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in World War I

The same extraordinary properties that make this plant an “ecosystem engineer” also helped save human lives

The super bloom draped California's Walker Canyon in a riot of colors.

California’s Lush Super Bloom Is Even More Stunning From Space

Satellite images captured an explosion of flowers stretching across California’s desert hills

Ingenious leafcutter ants have developed a successful symbiotic relationship with the fungi they farm. New genetic analysis helps pinpoint when, and why.

How Ants Became the World’s Best Fungus Farmers

Ancient climate change may have spurred a revolution in ant agriculture, Smithsonian researchers find

David Fairchild in 1940, tasting the fruit of an antidesma tree in Indonesia.

This Swashbuckling Botanist Changed America’s Landscapes

Not always for the better

A fern repeats its pattern at various scales.

Fractal Patterns in Nature and Art Are Aesthetically Pleasing and Stress-Reducing

One researcher takes this finding into account when developing retinal implants that restore vision

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