Environment
Flower shape and size impact bees’ chances of catching gut parasites
Bumblebees have higher chances of contracting a gut parasite from short, wide flowers than from blooms with other shapes, experiments show.
Plants
More Stories in Plants
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PlantsThese are the first plants grown in moon dirt
The first attempt to grow plants in Apollo samples from the moon shows the promise and potential struggles of farming in lunar soil.
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PlantsLeonardo da Vinci’s rule for how trees branch was close, but wrong
An update to da Vinci’s elegant, 500-year-old “rule of trees” offers a powerful, new way to describe the structure of almost any leafy tree.
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PlantsThese flowers lure pollinators to their deaths. There’s a new twist on how
Some jack-in-the-pulpit plants may use sex to lure pollinators. That's confusing for male fungus gnats — and deadly.
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ClimateForests help reduce global warming in more ways than one
Trees are often touted as bulwarks against climate change for their capacity to sequester carbon, but that’s just one part of the story.
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LifeAfrica’s fynbos plants hold their ground with the world’s thinnest roots
Long, thin roots help this South African shrubland commandeer soil nutrients and keep the neighboring forest from encroaching on its territory.
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PlantsEarth may have 9,200 more tree species than previously thought
Estimating how many tree species are on Earth is an important step for forest conservation and protecting biodiversity.
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PlantsInvasive grasses are taking over the American West’s sea of sagebrush
Cheatgrass and other invasive plants are expanding rapidly in the western United States, putting more places at risk for wildfires.
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ChemistryHere’s the chemistry behind marijuana’s skunky scent
Newly ID’d sulfur compounds in cannabis flowers give the plant its telltale odor. One, prenylthiol, is what also gives “skunked beer” its funky flavor.
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ClimateRice feeds half the world. Climate change’s droughts and floods put it at risk
Rice provides sustenance for billions who have no alternative, and climate change threatens to slash production. Growers will need to innovate to provide an important crop as climate whiplash brings drought and floods to fields worldwide.