Plants, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2004

Dwarf Mistletoe: Parasitic Plant Wreaks Havoc

The dwarf mistletoe, a kissin' cousin to the variety hung from doorways at Christmas-time, is unique in its family both for its sexual habits and the level of destruction it causes within the forests where it resides. This variety is the only truly parasitic member of the legendary plant family...

Oct 31, 2007

Plant Extinctions Reduce Ecosystem Productivity

As plant species go extinct, natural habitats will have less greenery overall, a new study suggests, which could allow more heat-trapping carbon-dioxide to remain in the atmosphere. The study, detailed in the Nov. 5 online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, summarized the results of...

Oct 31, 2007

Christmas Trees to Bear 'Green' Tags

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—Picking a Christmas tree is typically a matter of taste. Is the shape right? Is it too tall? Too short? Now a handful of growers in the top Christmas tree producing state of Oregon want people to consider another factor—how green'' a tree is. They've created a system...

Mar 31, 2007

World's First Tree Reconstructed

Earth's oldest known tree stood nearly 30 feet tall and looked like a modern palm, a new reconstruction shows. Workers uncovered hundreds of upright stumps of the 385 million-year-old tree more than a century ago, after a flash flood in Gilboa, New York uncovered them, but little else was known...

Sep 30, 2008

Scientists Determine Which Species to Save

Earth may be in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event due to our impact on the planet, scientists have said, and the upshot could mean nearly 50 percent of all plant and animal species will disappear in the coming decades. Rather than try to save them all, biologists...

Jun 30, 2008

Plants Talk, Even Eavesdrop

It's bad enough when a parasite latches on to your body to suck you dry. But when it starts eavesdropping on your communications, enough already. That's what the parasitic dodder vine does. It consumes water and nutrients from a host plant and, scientists have just discovered, it taps into the...

May 31, 2008

Extinct Tree From Christ's Time Rises From the Dead

Scientists have grown a tree from what may be the oldest seed ever germinated. The new sapling was sprouted from a 2,000-year-old date palm excavated in Masada, the site of a cliff-side fortress in Israel where ancient Jews are said to have killed themselves to avoid capture by Roman invaders....

Apr 30, 2008

Green Plants Boost Job Satisfaction

If employers want to increase job satisfaction, a little shrubbery apparently goes a long way. Workers are happier when offices have plants and windows, a new study found. American office workers spend an average of 52 hours a week at their desks, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Some might...

Jan 31, 2008

Researchers Map Corn Plant's Genome

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Scientists at universities and corporations are about to get a major leg up in their tireless — and profitable — effort to reinvent the corn plant. A group of researchers led by Washington University in St. Louis have mapped out the corn plant's massive genome, and...

Dec 31, 2007

Massive Self-Destructive Palm Found on Madagascar

Botanists are marveling at the discovery of a towering palm tree on Madagascar that essentially flowers itself to death. The palm has a huge trunk that reaches a whopping 59 feet (18 meters) in height and is topped by fan leaves 16 feet (5 meters) in diameter. The tree is...

Aug 31, 2009

Flowers Help Pollinators Get a Grip

The petals of most flowers are covered with cells in the unusual shape of cones, the pointy ends jutting up. But why? Researchers in England have shown that those cells let insects get a grip on unsteady flowers while gathering nectar and pollen. Heather M. Whitney, at the time a...

Jun 30, 2009

Seeds Are Nature's Most Efficient Ratchet

The seeds of many grasses are remarkable little mechanical devices. Each seed's hull has one or more bristle-like projections called awns, covered with tiny barbs pointing away from the seed. When a seed is partly buried in the ground with its awn pointing up, the barbs form a simple ratchet....

Mar 31, 2009

Why Leaves Turn Red

Scientists have long wondered if the red color of fall leaves was more than just a sign of death. The process of turning leaves to brilliant colors requires energy, but doesn't seem to benefit the trees. Some have suggested that fall colors act as sunscreen and keep trees from freezing....

Oct 31, 2010

At Kew Gardens, A Corpse Flowers Blooms

A corpse flower nicknamed for the rotten meat smell it releases as it blooms revealed its fetid flower last week (Oct. 26) at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in England. Jaw dropping site, said Rosemary Walbancke, on Kew's Facebook fan page. But boy does it smell bad. The flower is...

Mar 31, 2010

How Do Flowers Know When to Bloom?

Flower petals breaking through the snow, an early hint of spring's arrival, hides a very complex genetic process behind its floral façade. Flowers know when to bloom because of a gene named Apetala1. A lone master gene, Apetala1 triggers the reproductive development of a plant, telling it when it's time...