A new tool could make it easier to study scarce plant molecules. Researchers have developed so-called microbial cell factories -- using E. coli and yeast -- to produce a special class of plant ...

California is what’s known as a biodiversity hotspot because of the large amount of endemic natural life found here, especially plants. Endemic means these plants can only be found here and nowhere ...

David Kuchta, Ph.D. has 10 years of experience in gardening and has read widely in environmental history and the energy transition. An environmental activist since the 1970s, he is also a historian, ...

An unusual arrangement of leaves in a 407-million-year-old fossilized plant is complicating scientists’ understanding of plant evolution. Most land plants living today have spiral patterns involving ...

In the weird world of chlorophyll-free “fairy lantern” plants, there’s a new species to admire. By plant standards, Thismia are truly odd. Lacking chlorophyll, they eschew photosynthesis, instead ...

Ancient plants called cycads say “come hither” in infrared. By Sofia Quaglia If a plant wants to reproduce, there are a number of tricks it can use to lure a pollinator insect. It can display gaudily ...

One of the ways that plants are distinct from mammals is that plants don’t have nipples. Despite this disadvantage, one can still get milk from a plant. Generally speaking, what’s called plant milk is ...

“Help!” “Land here!” “Conserve resources!” “Get off!” “My fruits are ready to eat!” These are just some of the many messages we know plants—from a patch of moss to a 300-foot sequoia—can send. In fact ...

Glow-in-the-dark plants bright enough to light up streets at night may sound like the stuff of science fiction or fantasy. But scientists have already made plants that emit a greenish glow. They are ...