Streamside wildflower holds back on leaf competition when roots meet close kin (p. 13)

Yellow crazy ants can get so annoying that birds don’t eat their normal fruits, a new study finds. (p. 13)

DNA of infamous Phytophthora microbe reveals big, quick-changing zones, possibly the key to the pathogen’s vexing adaptability

A New Zealand tree’s peculiar leaves may have served as defenses against long-gone giant birds. (p. 10)

Violent pollen delivery in Catasetum flowers gets its power from temporarily deformed inner strip (p. 13)

New studies reveal that a thick, soft plant expels its progeny in an unexpected way.

A new study analyzes the features that help maple seeds stay airborne.

A new analysis suggests storm damage returns millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year.

Until a century or so ago, nobody had any idea that there even was such a thing as quantum physics. But while humans operated for millennia in quantum darkness, it seems that plants, bacteria and birds may have been in the know all along. Quantum effects, human researchers have only recently discovered, may explain how the first steps of photosynthesis convert light to chemical energy with such high efficiency. Other studies suggest that quantum tricks may enable migratory birds to navigate using Earth’s magnetic field lines. Through studies like these, scientists are beginning to un... (p. 26)

Variation underlies the Callery pear tree’s transformation . (p. 5)

Until now, an acacia common in its African homeland had no scientific name (p. 8)

Apple trees support the idea that red fall colors are a warning signal to insects.

From birds and clams to herring, many species continue to show persistent impacts of an oil spill that occurred two decades ago.

Scientists finally pin down the proteins one plant uses to lure pollen tubes to its plant ovaries. (p. 10)