Flowering Plants, Shrubs and Trees
Flowering plants, shrubs and trees provide the environment with much needed oxygen and fight soil erosion. They also provide food and shelter for many animals, as well as contribute to the fertility of soil with their dead leaves and flowers.
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Hundreds of crops in developing countries are relatively unknown in the developed world because they're often hard to grow or export. But scientists have found that CRISPR editing can speed up traditional plant breeding techniques.
By Dave Roos
A massive white oak in the hometown of the University of Georgia has many wondering whether a tree can even have legal rights — and about the future of the environmental and animal rights movements.
By Jamie Allen
Thinking allows us to solve problems, plan ahead and defend ourselves from outside threats. It's what separates us from "lower" life-forms like plants, right? Well, maybe not.
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Though they may be stuck in one place, plants have proven to possess a surprising array of capabilities. But the ability to feel pain? Scientists are learning that the possibility isn't as crazy as it sounds.
An interesting defense mechanism recently observed in tomato plants has caterpillars turning on themselves rather than remaining vegetarian.
Mangroves provide a habitat for wildlife such as fish, birds, deer and insects. They also stabilize shorelines, protect against storm surges and improve water quality. What's not to love?
Snake plants are attractive and virtually ironclad houseplants, almost impossible to kill, though some of the hype about them acting as air purifying filters has been overblown.
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Machines can translate some of the biological functions of plants into synthesizer sounds. But are these synthesized translations the same thing as music?
They call kudzu the plant that ate the South for a reason. How did this leafy green legume make its way here all the way from Asia, and how has it managed to devour entire buildings?