Plants
Latest about Plants
![close up of a wollemi pine tree, a species that has survived since the cretaceous period](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-320-80.jpg)
Mystery of 'living fossil' tree frozen in time for 66 million years finally solved
By Richard Pallardy published
The Wollemi pine was thought to have gone extinct 2 million years ago until it was rediscovered by a group of hikers in 1994. Now, scientists have decoded its genome to understand how it's survived — almost unchanged — since the time of the dinosaurs.
![a tropical rainforest with tall trees and a gap in the canopy where the sun is coming through](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-320-80.jpg)
'Once again, innovation and proliferation ended with catastrophe': The environmental disaster of plants taking over the world
By Stephen Porder published
The evolutionary leap that allowed plants to live on land 400 million years ago upended Earth in a way unseen since the Great Oxidation Event over 1.5 billion years earlier.
![a shoot of the enigmatic bamboo species henon bamboo which flowers once every 120 years](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-320-80.jpg)
Mysterious bamboo regeneration baffles scientists ahead of once-in-a-century blooming event
By Jacklin Kwan published
Henon bamboo flowers only once every 120 years then vanishes for years, and researchers have no idea how it regenerates.
![The pinkglow pineapple, grown in Costa Rica, gets its pink color from lycopene.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-320-80.jpg)
Genetically engineered pink pineapples are flying off shelves: What gives them their distinctive color?
By Donavyn Coffey published
The food giant Del Monte has created a genetically engineered pink pineapple that owes its rosy hue to higher concentrations of a pigment called lycopene.
![Mist hangs over the upper canopy of the dipterocarp rainforest in Borneo's Danum Valley.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-320-80.jpg)
Tropical rainforests could get too hot for photosynthesis and die if climate crisis continues, scientists warn
By Ben Turner published
Data collected by the International Space Station has revealed a small fraction of leaves in the world's tropical rainforests are already exceeding peak temperatures, and scientists warn that this could increase.
![an unusual species of succulent known as baby's bum because of its pink globe-like leaves](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-320-80.jpg)
This bizarre little succulent looks like a baby's butt
By Megan Shersby published
Gibbaeum heathii is endemic to a valley in South Africa that is surrounded by mountains and receives very little rainfall, allowing a huge range of succulent species to thrive. This bababoutjies — or baby's bum — is one of them.
![We see two bananas in peels and one cut in half, with its seeds exposed.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/auwuEQEsN2WCYwSvHzcyTX-320-80.jpg)
How do plants with seedless fruit reproduce?
By Amanda Heidt published
Plants are capable of producing seedless fruit through a process called parthenocarpy, and humans have long leveraged it in agriculture.
![The tallest tree in asia pictured from above surrounded by forest](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6yJRtuiY26xmCX4eFUx3Di-320-80.jpg)
World's deepest canyon is home to Asia's tallest tree - and Chinese scientists only just found it
By Lydia Smith published
At 335 feet (102 meters) in height, the enormous newly-discovered cypress tree — which was found in a forest in Tibet — would tower over the Statue of Liberty.
![An illustration of a glowing breen orb (a photon) falling toward the leafy forest floor to start photosynthesis](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PhCT4GFB2iodKtHJs86ZhD-320-80.jpg)
Scientists have finally discovered how photosynthesis starts — by setting it off with a single photon
By Joanna Thompson published
For the first time, researchers have observed how just one particle of light can trigger photosynthesis in bacteria — finally revealing the first step of the crucial process.
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