Plants

  1. Plants

    Cretaceous Corsages? Fossil in amber suggests antiquity of orchids

    Orchids appeared on the scene about 80 million years ago, according to evidence from a bee that collected orchid pollen and got trapped in amber.

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  2. Plants

    Easy There, Bro: A plant can spot and favor close kin

    A little beach plant can recognize its siblings as long as their roots grow in nearby soil.

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  3. Plants

    Tiny pool protects flower buds

    A rare structure on flowers, tiny cups that keep buds underwater until they bloom, can protect the buds from marauding moths.

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  4. Plants

    Old plants were lost in the grass

    An obscure family of plants long thought to be relatives of grasses turns out to represent one of the most ancient surviving lineages of flowering plants.

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  5. Plants

    Secret Agent: Hidden helper lets fungus save plants from heat

    A fungus that supposedly lets plants live in overheated soil turns out to work only if it's infected with a certain virus.

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  6. Plants

    Biggest Bloom: Superflower changes branch on family tree

    The plants with the world's largest flowers, the rafflesias, need to be moved closer to poinsettias on the family tree of plant life.

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  7. Plants

    Orchid bends around to insert pollen

    An orchid species in China has set a new record for acrobatics in self-pollination, twisting its male organs around and inserting them into the cavity where the female organ lies.

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  8. Plants

    Herbal therapy for beleaguered lawns

    Mustard and other herbal remedies can thwart turf attacks by root-feeding roundworms.

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  9. Plants

    Nectar: The First Soft Drink

    Plants have long competed with one another to lure animals in for a sip of their sweet formulations.

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  10. Plants

    They’re All Part Fungus

    Hidden deep in their tissues, all plants probably have fungi that don't make them sick but still may have a big influence.

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  11. Plants

    Reality Botany: Data ease doubts about plant species

    Despite the doubts of some botanists, plant species aren't just some arbitrary human classification scheme, says a team of evolutionary biologists.

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  12. Plants

    Small difference factored big in rice domestication

    A change in a single letter of a rice plant's genetic code gave it the ability to hold onto grains until harvest.

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