News tagged with botany
Giant fossil Prototaxites: Unraveling a 400-million-year-old mystery
Contradictions and puzzles surround the giant fossil Prototaxites. The fossils resemble tree trunks, and yet they are from a time before trees existed. The stable carbon isotope values are similar to those of fungi, but th ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Feb 10, 2010 |
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If GMO genes escape, how will the hybrids do?
GMOs, or Genetically Modified Organisms, may raise concerns of genes escaping from crops and having unknown effects on natural, wild species. But what is the real risk that traits associated with GMOs will actually migrate ...
Nov 01, 2010 |
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Going out on a (redwood tree) limb
How tall can a tree grow? Does sunlight or water limit the size and photosynthetic capacity of a leaf? Could constraints on leaf growth really determine the height of a tree? These are all questions that ...
Jun 28, 2010 |
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Carnivorous plant traps worms with sticky leaves
Plants eat the darndest things. Scientists have discovered a small flowering plant living in the sandy soils of Brazil that traps nematodes, or roundworms, with sticky underground leaves -- and gobbles them ...
Jan 09, 2012 |
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Can a plant be altruistic?
The concept of altruism has long been debated in philosophical circles, and more recently, evolutionary biologists have joined the debate. From the perspective of natural selection, altruism may have evolved because any ...
Nov 11, 2009 |
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Bringing dehydrated plants 'back to life'
Drought can take a serious toll on plants and animals alike. When cells are deprived of water, they shrink, collapsing in upon themselves and, without water as a medium, chemicals and enzymes inside the cells may malfunction. ...
Apr 01, 2010 |
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Weeding out marijuana: Researchers close in on engineering recognizable, drug-free Cannabis plant
In a first step toward engineering a drug-free Cannabis plant for hemp fiber and oil, University of Minnesota researchers have identified genes producing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana. ...
Sep 15, 2009 |
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Making its predators tremble: Multiple defenses act synergistically in aspen
If plants did not defend themselves in some way, they would certainly be gobbled up by a whole suite of voracious predators ranging from little insects to large mammalian herbivores. Indeed, not only do plants defend themselves, ...
Apr 23, 2010 |
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Will loss of plant diversity compromise Earth's life-support systems?
Biodiversity around the world is increasingly threatened by global warming, habitat loss, and other human impacts. But what does this loss of species mean for the functioning of ecosystems that humans depend ...
Mar 03, 2011 |
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New fossil plant discovery links Patagonia to New Guinea in a warmer past
Fossil plants are windows to the past, providing us with clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Not only do fossils tell us which species were present before human-recorded history, ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Rare woodland plant uses 'cryptic coloration' to hide from predators
It is well known that some animal species use camouflage to hide from predators. Individuals that are able to blend in to their surroundings and avoid being eaten are able to survive longer, reproduce, and ...
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Islands in the sky: How isolated are mountain top plant populations?
Do mountain tops act as sky islands for species that live at high elevations? Are plant populations on these mountain tops isolated from one another because the valleys between them act as barriers, or can ...
Jan 21, 2011 |
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Hidden elm population may hold genes to combat Dutch elm disease
Two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists may have discovered "the map to El Dorado" for the American elm-a previously hidden population of elms that carry genes for resistance to Dutch elm disease. The disease ...
Mar 30, 2011 |
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What should goldenrod do to avoid an insect attack? Duck
A field of golden-flowered stems swaying in an autumn breeze may evoke a peaceful scene. But this tranquility belies serious battles between natural enemies that took place in the spring. In particular, young ...
Mar 08, 2010 |
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The Murcian flower has been 'revived' after 100 years
The species of legume known as 'Tallante's chickpea', which has not been seen for nearly a century, has finally been studied in detail. The species is thought to be in critical danger of extinction given that ...
Oct 13, 2011 |
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Botany
Botany, plant science(s), or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses. Botany covers a wide range of scientific disciplines including structure, growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases, chemical properties, and evolutionary relationships among taxonomic groups. Botany began with early human efforts to identify edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making it one of the oldest branches of science. Today botanists study over 550,000 species of living organisms.
The term "botany" comes from Greek βοτάνη, meaning "pasture, grass, fodder", perhaps via the idea of a livestock keeper needing to know which plants are safe for livestock to eat.
For more information about Botany, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
