Instead of nipping milkweed to drain the plants’ defensive sap, older monarch caterpillars may seek the toxic sap. Lab larvae guzzled it from a pipette.
In hot Spanish summers, the thistle Carlina corymbosa is somehow able to cool itself substantially below air temperature.
Traits that help trees live for hundreds of years also foster forest life, one reason why old growth forest conservation is crucial.
Nanostructures in a blueberry’s waxy coating make it look blue, despite having dark red pigments — and no blue ones — in its skin, a new study reports.
Cyathea rojasiana tree ferns seem to thrive in Panama’s Quebrada Chorro forest by turning dead leaves into roots that seek out nutrient-rich soil.
The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.
An invasive ant is killing off ants that defend trees from elephants. With less cover, it’s harder for lions to hunt zebras, so they hunt buffalo instead.
Though rare, plants across 33 families are known for subterranean flowering or fruiting. This is the first example in a palm.
In his debut book, Noah Whiteman tours through chemistry, evolution and world history to understand toxins and how we’ve come to use them.
Rising seas usually spell trouble for mangroves. But the first survey of the Howick Islands in 50 years finds that mangroves there have expanded a lot.
