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botany

Latest Articles

Photo of green leafy plants in close-up.
Abstractions blog

Why Are Plants Green? To Reduce the Noise in Photosynthesis.

By Rodrigo Pérez Ortega
July 30, 2020
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Plants ignore the most energy-rich part of sunlight because stability matters more than efficiency, according to a new model of photosynthesis.

Root glowing green against black background. Small spheres and threadlike filaments surround it.
ecology

Soil’s Microbial Market Shows the Ruthless Side of Forests

By Gabriel Popkin
August 27, 2019
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In the “underground economy” for soil nutrients, fungi strike hard bargains and punish plants that won’t meet their price.

VIDEO OPENER: TIME-LAPSE OF FLOWER OPENING.
botany

Unexpected ‘Germline’ Plant Cells May Shield New Generations

By Charlie Wood
August 5, 2019
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To avoid passing on new mutations to offspring, plants may minimize the number of divisions by the stem cells that make flowers and seeds.

Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum leaf
botany

DNA Analysis Reveals a Genus of Plants Hiding in Plain Sight

By Olena Shmahalo
September 4, 2018
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Gene-sequence data is changing the way that botanists think about their classification schemes. A recent name-change for a common houseplant resulted from the discovery that it belonged in an overlooked genus.

Aribidopsis thaliana inflorescence
Abstractions blog

With ‘Downsized’ DNA, Flowering Plants Took Over the World

By Jordana Cepelewicz
January 11, 2018
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Compact genomes and tiny cells gave flowering plants an edge over competing flora. This discovery hints at a broader evolutionary principle.

evolution

The Thorny Truth About Spine Evolution

By Christie Wilcox
June 14, 2017
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A definitive explanation for why plants evolved spines remains elusive, and human biases compound the problem.

Maple leaves.
botany

The Secret Language of Plants

By Kat McGowan
December 16, 2013
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Striking evidence that plants warn each other of environmental dangers is reviving a once ridiculed field.

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