Plants

More Stories in Plants

  1. Plants

    On hot summer days, this thistle is somehow cool to the touch

    In hot Spanish summers, the thistle Carlina corymbosa is somehow able to cool itself substantially below air temperature.

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  2. Plants

    Ancient trees’ gnarled, twisted shapes provide irreplaceable habitats

    Traits that help trees live for hundreds of years also foster forest life, one reason why old growth forest conservation is crucial.

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  3. Plants

    Here’s why blueberries are blue

    Nanostructures in a blueberry’s waxy coating make it look blue, despite having dark red pigments — and no blue ones — in its skin, a new study reports.

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  4. Plants

    This weird fern is the first known plant that turns its dead leaves into new roots

    Cyathea rojasiana tree ferns seem to thrive in Panama’s Quebrada Chorro forest by turning dead leaves into roots that seek out nutrient-rich soil.

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  5. Paleontology

    A rare 3-D tree fossil may be the earliest glimpse at a forest understory

    The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.

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  6. Ecosystems

    How an invasive ant changed a lion’s dinner menu

    An invasive ant is killing off ants that defend trees from elephants. With less cover, it’s harder for lions to hunt zebras, so they hunt buffalo instead.

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  7. Plants

    This first-of-its-kind palm plant flowers and fruits entirely underground

    Though rare, plants across 33 families are known for subterranean flowering or fruiting. This is the first example in a palm.

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  8. Chemistry

    ‘Most Delicious Poison’ explores how toxins rule our world

    In his debut book, Noah Whiteman tours through chemistry, evolution and world history to understand toxins and how we’ve come to use them.

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  9. Plants

    On some Australian islands, sea level rise may be helping mangroves thrive

    Rising seas usually spell trouble for mangroves. But the first survey of the Howick Islands in 50 years finds that mangroves there have expanded a lot.

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