Plants

Ecosystems

Flowers may be big antennas for bees’ electrical signals

The finding suggests a way for plants to share information about nearby pollinators and communicate when to trigger nectar production.

Animals

Big monarch caterpillars don’t avoid toxic milkweed goo. They binge on it

Instead of nipping milkweed to drain the plants’ defensive sap, older monarch caterpillars may seek the toxic sap. Lab larvae guzzled it from a pipette.

Environment

How air pollution may make it harder for pollinators to find flowers

Certain air pollutants that build up at night can break down the same fragrance molecules that attract pollinators like hawk moths to primroses.

Animals

Giant tortoise migration in the Galápagos may be stymied by invasive trees

An invasion of Spanish cedar trees on Santa Cruz Island may block the seasonal migration routes of the island's giant tortoise population.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.