botany

The father-and-son duo, the last generations of a long line of renowned glassworkers, crafted thousands of realistic models of plants and sea creatures.

A tiny pilot study found that so-called chameleon vines mimicked plastic leaves, but experts say poor study design and conflicts of interest undermine the report.

Abundant environmental CO₂ can increase plant biomass and photosynthesis, but it has downsides for agriculture and ecosystems, a growing body of research finds.

Finding a creature in the wild that had been considered long gone brings hope—and quite a bit of uncertainty.

Sequences for the model organism and two of its kin reveal how these plants got their oversized genomes.

See some of the coolest images recently featured by The Scientist

Tortoise leaf beetles enjoy the protection the fungus provides from insect predators such as ants, then carry the microbe to a mutual plant host, which their fungal symbiont infects.

Hoffmann traveled through Chile cataloging its rare flora. Later, she fought to defend the country’s forests from commercial deforestation.

The growing season on the tundra is starting earlier as the planet warms, but the plants aren’t sequestering more carbon, a new study finds.

A new study of tree biodiversity estimates that Earth boasts 14 percent more tree species than previous efforts have identified.

The discovery that what was long believed to be one fly species is actually two deepens researchers’ understanding of plant-pollinator relationships in a unique habitat in southern Africa.

Whole genome sequences reveal multiple domestications of this agriculturally important tree and may hold the secrets to producing the sweet fruit year round.

Elaborate annotations hidden in a copy of Sir James Edward Smith’s The English Flora hinted at the life of a mysterious woman botanist.

The first reference-quality genome for this grass species could aid managers in understanding and eradicating this highly invasive plant.

An analysis of more than half a million trees reveals that many species begin to taper off seed production once they hit a certain size.

A study finds that plants sharing the same growth medium can exchange microRNAs that silence genes in the recipient, suggesting the nucleic acids may act as signaling molecules.

The high-yield variety of rice he produced in the 1970s prevented countless people from dying of starvation.

Cultivating stenophylla, untapped by the coffee industry for the last century, could help farmers cope with the effects of climate change, researchers suggest.

Plant species officially reported to be lost are in fact persevering in the wild, in seed banks or botanical gardens, or as other species now recognized to be taxonomic synonyms.