Orchids don’t always reward their pollinators — sometimes they mislead them. From flowers that mimic insect mates to blooms that smell like rotting fish, orchids have evolved remarkable strategies to…
Category: Plants
Tree tops sparkle with electricity during thunderstorms
Thunderstorms may bring more than rain and gloom. The same forces that cause thunder and lightning also make treetops sparkle in ultraviolet light, like a Christmas tree topper invisible to…
‘In Botanical Time’ explores the ways Earth’s oldest plants cheat death
In Botanical TimeChristopher WoodsChelsea Green, $40.00 On a talus-strewn slope in eastern California’s mountains, a gnarled tree twists toward the sky. It is Methuselah, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus…
Plants packed close enough to touch are more resilient to stress
For a plant growing on the forest floor, a beam of light from an opening canopy can be concerning. But new research suggests that plants growing together may be able…
In a new kind of plant trickery, this yam fools birds with fake berries
Deception and intrigue are not limited to people or even animals. Plants, too, have evolved ways to fool their pollinators, their enemies and even the organisms that disperse their seeds.…
An all-female wasp is rapidly spreading across North America’s elms
She’s less than a centimeter long, produces only daughters and is conquering the continent without a single male. Meet the elm zigzag sawfly, named for the delicate zigzag patterns it…
Hidden tree bark microbes munch on important climate gases
Trees are known for capturing carbon dioxide as they grow. But they also soak up other gases implicated in climate change through microbes in their bark. The tree bark microbes…
Moss spores survived in space for 9 months
In an extraordinary display of biological resilience, moss spores survived for nine months outside the International Space Station. The spores were then returned to Earth, where 86 percent germinated and…
A special shape shift helps a shrub thrive in blistering heat
From growing smaller leaves to shape-shifting its insides, a desert flowering plant goes all in to flourish in the harshest of conditions. Summer temperatures in Death Valley National Park frequently…
