Alcoholic fruit may help plants recruit mammals to spread their seeds
19 July 2023
Measurements of alcohol levels in fruits collected in a Costa Rican forest reveal that those eaten by mammals contain higher levels of alcohol
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Soya beans made more meat-like by adding genes for pig proteins
28 June 2023
A company called Moolec has created transgenic soya beans called “Piggy Sooy” in which a quarter of the protein is pig protein rather than plant protein
Ancient plant's leaves didn't follow golden rule as modern ones do
15 June 2023
Most modern plants grow leaves in a pattern that follows the Fibonacci sequence, but a reconstruction of a 400-million-year-old plant reveals that its leaves grew much more chaotically
Why used coffee grounds may be doing your plants more harm than good
14 June 2023
We are often told to add used coffee grounds to garden soil to perk up plants. But the science doesn’t support this, says James Wong
Robot gardener grows plants as well as humans do but uses less water
11 June 2023
A vegetable-growing trial has pitted expert human gardeners against an AI-powered robot – both produced comparable crops, but the robot used about 40 per cent less water
Underground fungi absorb up to a third of our fossil fuel emissions
5 June 2023
Researchers estimate that plants transfer more than 13 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide each year to mycorrhizal fungi, which grow around their roots
Rare plant turns carnivorous when it is low on a key nutrient
23 May 2023
The West African liana Triphyophyllum peltatum can grow special leaves that trap insects, but we now know it only does this when the soil is lacking in phosphorus
Hundreds of species new to science discovered in South-East Asia
22 May 2023
A WWF report catalogues a cornucopia of plants and animals newly identified in the Greater Mekong region in 2021 and 2022, but many of them are endangered
Foraging for wild garlic: how, when and what to watch out for
17 May 2023
The pungent flavour of wild garlic probably evolved as a defence against herbivory, but it doesn’t deter garlic-loving humans, says Sam Wong
New book collates the pioneering photographs of Anna Atkins
17 May 2023
The 19th-century British botanist used an early photographic technique to document plants and algae, and in 1843 released the first ever book illustrated with photographs
