The computing principle GIGO states that if the data you put into a model is garbage, then the output will be too. Jie Yang and colleagues have been tackling the problem of modeling of tropical tree growth. What data is the best data for these models? One approach that you could expect is to take […]

The key to good fruit fruit is sugar. But what processes drive the accumulation of sugars in fruit?

Turgor pressure within a plant cell represents the key to mechanistically describe plant growth, combining the effect of both water and carbon availability. The high level of spatio-temporal variation and diurnal dynamics in turgor pressure within a single plant make it a challenge to model these on the fine spatial scale required for functional-structural plant […]

The Piedra Chamana fossil forest in northern Peru is an assemblage of angiosperm woods and leaves preserved in volcaniclastic rocks dated at 39 Ma (late Middle Eocene). Deborah Woodcock and Herbert Meyer analyzed anatomical and morphological features of the fossils to reconstruct the paleoenvironment during this time of global warmth, taking advantage of the co-occurrence […]

Improved modelling of carbon assimilation and plant growth to low soil moisture requires evaluation of underlying mechanisms in the soil, roots, and shoots. The feedback between plants and their local environment throughout the whole spectrum soil-root-shoot-environment is crucial to accurately describe and evaluate the impact of environmental changes on plant development. Renato Braghiere and colleagues […]

It's the differences in individuals that make one Protea more successful than another.

The Indeterminate Domain (IDD) proteins are a plant specific subclass of C2H2 Zinc Finger transcription factors. Some of these transcription factors play roles in diverse aspects of plant metabolism and development, however the function of most of IDD genes is unknown and the molecular evolution of the subfamily has not been explored in detail. Prochetto […]

Native and invading plants vary differently in leaf shape in response to climate. Curiously, sometimes the native plants are more acquisitive than the invaders.

When there are unsuitable partners around, Lysimachia arvensis, will alter its herkogamy to favour self pollination over outcrossing with the wrong flowers

Light interception is closely related to canopy architecture. Few studies based on multi-view photography have been conducted in a field environment, particularly studies that link 3D plant architecture with a radiation model to quantify the dynamic canopy light interception. In this study, Binglin Zhu and colleagues combined realistic 3D plant architecture with a radiation model […]

Pinyon pine hybridization is widely acknowledged, but the frequency of and contributors to such interspecific mating remain largely unstudied. Pinus quadrifolia has three to four needles per fascicle, suggesting it is a result of hybridization between the five-needled P. juarezensis and the single-needled P. monophyla. In this study Ryan Buck and colleagues address the taxonomic […]

Mikania micrantha benefits from high gene flow when invading new territory in Asia.