We might think of living organisms as typically having two sets of chromosomes—-one from mom and one from dad. But there are lots of variations out there. Polyploidy, or having more than two chromosome copies, is especially ...
Evolution
Aug 29, 2016
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The beautiful flowers and impressive diversity of a large genus of roughly 250 species North American and East Asian flowering plants have inspired scientists and gardeners alike. The North American genus of perennial herbs ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 5, 2016
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42
Hundreds of feet above the ground, atop a giant sequoia tree, as many as 2 billion leaves vie for resources. Twigs teem with leaves growing long and splayed or short and tight, depending on their placement in the crown. Leaves ...
Environment
Jun 15, 2016
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331
Pollen grains may be small but they have a big job. Delivering a sperm to an egg is a little more complicated when the parents don't move around. For plants, pollen success means reaching a receptive stigma, germinating and ...
Ecology
Apr 4, 2016
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9
Two invasive species of tumbleweed have hybridized to create a new species of tumbleweed that University of California, Riverside researchers found has dramatically expanded its geographic range in California in just a decade.
Ecology
Mar 31, 2016
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For organisms that lack legs, plants get around plenty. Their variability across the landscape begs an evolutionary lens for geographical studies. This perspective promises to be increasingly insightful as global warming ...
Ecology
Feb 1, 2016
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7
New fossil evidence shows that Australia's fire-prone shrubland open vegetation originated at least 70 million years ago – 40-50 million years earlier than previously thought.
Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2015
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7
One of the most striking and unusual species of all Iberian flora is the carnivorous plant Drosophyllum lusitanicum, known as the 'fly-trap' and to which Charles Darwin directed his attention in the book Insectivorous Plants, ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 9, 2015
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74
Plant hunters traveling between North America and Asia in the 1800s noticed a bizarre pattern: collections they brought back from China and Japan were strikingly similar in their leaves, flowers and fruits to plants from ...
Ecology
May 20, 2015
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One of the planet's leading questions is how to produce enough food to feed the world in an increasingly variable climate. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that food production must rise ...
Biotechnology
Oct 14, 2014
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