With corpse flowers, carnivorous penis plants and otherworldly "fairy lanterns," Earth is filled with a dizzying variety of plants, from the beautiful to the bizarre. At Live Science, we celebrate this plant diversity by bringing you fantastic flora facts and the latest botany-based research. Curious about what plants you can eat if you're stranded in the wild? Or how plants "scream" in the face of stress? Our expert writers and editors answer these questions and more in the latest plant news, features and articles.
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China's Great Green Wall: The giant artificial forest designed to slow the expansion of 2 deserts
Since 1978, China has planted more than 66 billion trees along its 2,800-mile-long northern border, and it wants to plant 34 billion more over the next 25 years to complete its "Great Green Wall."
China has planted so many trees it's changed the entire country's water distribution
Huge "regreening" efforts in China over the past few decades have activated the country's water cycle and moved water in ways that scientists are just now starting to understand.
Death Valley shrub rearranges its insides to thrive in one of the hottest places on Earth
Heat-loving plants that thrive in California's Death Valley could hold the key to growing crops in a changing climate.
Why can pumpkins grow so large, but blueberries can't?
Most fruit is pretty small, so why do pumpkins grow to such enormous sizes?
Fruits and vegetables quiz: Do you know where pumpkins, blueberries and broccoli come from?
Do you know where your staple fruits and vegetables were domesticated? Take Live Science's quiz to find out.
Plants self-organize in a 'hidden order,' echoing pattern found across nature
Scientists have discovered a "perfect disordered hyperuniform" pattern in how plants arrange themselves across many dry landscapes that allows them to make the most of water resources.
Scientists discover gold nanoparticles hidden in spruce tree needles
Spruce tree needles contain tiny gold particles — and they could indicate large gold deposits beneath the surface.
Do figs really have dead wasps in them?
Does every fig you eat really have a dead wasp inside?
Cairo Fossil Forest: The oldest forest in North America with 385 million-year-old trees
The Cairo Fossil Forest is the second oldest in the world. These forests mark a turning point in Earth's history because they changed the composition of the atmosphere, scientists say.
'This needs to happen fast': Scientists race to cryopreserve a critically endangered tree before it goes extinct
Less than 400 angle-stemmed myrtle specimens remain in the wild in Australia. Scientists are working on ways to preserve the species so that we can bring it back at any point if it dies out.
