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Celebrating Plants and People

  • Discovery Of Peanut Parents Reveals Surprising Origin

    We now know that the first inhabitants of South America in their long voyages carried A. ipaensis to the land of A. duranensis 10,000 years ago. Once in the same area, bees pollinized the peanut plant flowers, allowing the birth of the hybrid that our South American ancestors ate and that eventually led to the modern peanut, Arachia hypogaea. It’s a fascinating story. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Elm Trees’ Dating Service Helps The Species Save Itself

    We’re trying to preserve enough diversity so the species can respond to this disease in as many ways as possible — so elms can continue to evolve as the disease evolves and as new threats develop, (Click on title for full story.)

  • Magnolias, Celebrated Each Spring, Are Going Extinct

    Nearly half (48%) of the magnolia species assessed are threatened with extinction in the wild. The Neotropics hold the highest proportion of threatened magnolias, with 75% of Neotropical magnolia species threatened with extinction. “Magnolias are an ancient group of trees that have survived epochs of global change. Now we stand to lose half of all species unless we take action to prevent extinction,” (Click on title for full story.)

  • Iconic Plant Resists Efforts To Conserve It

    Like many other carnivorous plants, the waterwheel has been heavily affected by habitat destruction and illegal collection. And a study now says that a common way of conserving plants – seed banks – might not work for this species. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Good News! Trees More Adaptable To Climate Change Than First Thought

    The bend-don’t-break adaptability of trees extends to handling climate change, according to a new study that says forests may be able to deal with hotter temperatures and contribute less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than scientists previously thought. (Click on title for full story.)

  • “Natural” Ecosystems Man-Made Centuries Ago

    While I was doing field work in Southern Appalachia, I noticed that whenever I saw a honey locust, I could throw a rock and hit a Cherokee archeological site. I knew that, in the late Pleistocene era, the main source of dispersal for honey locusts was megafauna such as mastodons. But mastodons disappeared more than 10,000 years ago. You’d expect plant species that relied strictly on extinct megafauna for seed dispersal would only exist in small, remnant populations. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Pollination By Snails. Rare. And Probably Slow

    Although a variety of animals are known to bring about pollen transfer, pollination by snails (malacophily) has remained a are and obscure phenomenon. Here we conclusively demonstrate the incidence of malacophily in Volvulopsis nummularium a prostrate rainy-season weed, which is also visited by honey bees. Flowers open in the morning and last only for half a day. Apis cerana indica and Graceful Awlsnail ( Lamellaxis gracile ) are the pollinators. Snails are exclusive pollinators on rainy days, when bees are not active. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Blueberries Reportedly Reduce Effects Of Alzheimer’s

    The study shows the berry, which can potentially lower the risk of heart disease and cancer, could also be a weapon in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists say the fruit is loaded with healthful antioxidants which could help prevent the devastating effects of the increasingly common form of dementia. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Pine Trees Born Of Fire Over 140million Years Ago

    The fossils show that wildfires raged through the earliest pine forests and probably shaped the evolution of this important tree (click on title for full story.)

  • Cactus Goo Can Purify Water And More

    The slimy guts of cacti can purify contaminated water, according to researchers (Click on title for full story.)