Botany

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.

By Laurie L. Dove

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.

By Laurie L. Dove & Desiree Bowie

On Johns Island, South Carolina, stands an oak tree so big and beautiful that people come just to stand under its branches and feel the magic.

By Patty Rasmussen

These majestic trees send their roots down in pillars from branch to ground, can form a canopy over 80 feet high and can live to be 250 years old.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

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

Cork is the go-to material for wine stoppers and bulletin boards. So are we really running out of it? And if so, what happens?

By Wendy Bowman

Requiring little care and upkeep, daffodils are bright, showy perennials that symbolize rebirth and new beginnings.

By Wendy Bowman

Poison sumac is even more toxic than its cousins, poison ivy and poison oak, in its ability to cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems.

By Alia Hoyt

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

Machines can translate some of the biological functions of plants into synthesizer sounds. But are these synthesized translations the same thing as music?

By Jesslyn Shields

An interesting defense mechanism recently observed in tomato plants has caterpillars turning on themselves rather than remaining vegetarian.

By Laurie L. Dove

Orchids might be the sexiest flower in the greenhouse. Its very name comes from the Greek word for "testicle!" And its reproduction methods are pretty exotic too.

By Alia Hoyt & Desiree Bowie

Pollen grains are, in essence, plant sperm. But how do the grains get where they need to go, and what's the advantage of trusting your genetic future to the winds?

By Jessika Toothman

Urushiol is the active chemical in poison ivy. Learn more about urushiol and how to properly remove poison ivy.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors