plants

Sticky Plants Protect Themselves with a Deadly 'Siren Song'

The plant's chemical signal lures insect tourists, who get stuck and die—then their delicious corpses draw predators who scare off insects that might munch the plant.

Rebellious Group Splices Fruit-Bearing Branches Onto Urban Trees

Fighting The Man with sustainable fruit.

Mogens Engelund, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

Europe's Oldest Tree is Undergoing a Sex Change

The recent change in the ancient organism shocked scientists.

How Do Plants Decide When to Flower?

Scientists pin down the chemical process that makes plants open up.

Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility // Public Domain

These Caterpillars Trick Plants With Their Poop

You may have heard the saying “don’t s**t where you eat,” but fall armyworms certainly haven’t.

Meet Marimo, the World’s Most Charismatic Algae

The fuzzy green balls are revered as national treasures, celebrated in religious ceremonies, and kept as pets.

Bees Love Caffeine, Too

Some plants may be luring bees with caffeinated nectar.

Nearly One-Third of Cacti Are at Risk of Becoming Extinct

One major threat? Collectors and horticulturists harvest the wild plants and sell them illegally.

Decorative Gourds Get Weirder Every Year

Why are decorative gourds so weird looking?

Tashkoskim via Wikimedia Commons // CC-BY-3.0

Poop-Like Plant Tricks Dung Beetles Into Burying Its Seeds

Looking like crap isn’t always a bad thing.

How Do Plants Grow in Space?

When a weed tries to take root in zero gravity, interesting things start to happen.

Josh Haroldson via Flickr // CC BY-NC 2.0

10 Glorious Facts About Sunflowers

The world's tallest sunflower reaches 30 feet and 1 inch.

Scientists Are Making a Better Artificial Leaf

To unlock the secret to renewable energy, science is taking a cue from nature.

Alfred Kinsey's Massive Gall Wasp Collection

Before he was a sexologist, Kinsey's traveled the country on a hunt for gall wasps.

There Is a Video Game Where You Just Take Care of Succulents

Viridi is sort of like a Tamagotchi for gardening.

Celebrating a 390-Year-Old Bonsai Tree That Survived the Hiroshima Bombing

39 years after its arrival at the facility, and on the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the tree is being honored.

5 Ways Plants Communicate

Plants are chattier than you think.

Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain // Getty

Beatrix Potter, Mushroom Expert

The accomplished mycologist made an important discovery about mushrooms—which went ignored because she was a woman.

Wikimedia Commons // GeographBot// CC BY-SA 2.0

The Poison Garden of Alnwick Castle

From ricin and strychnine to coca, the Poison Garden is full of things people shouldn’t even smell, let alone touch or eat.

Alberto Salguero, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY SA 4.0

How a Lying Plant Steals from a Thieving Fly

The smearwort (Aristolochia rotunda) dupes fruit flies into entering its flowers and then traps them there, getting pollinated without offering any reward.