Plants rely on stiff cells walls for support. But these same cell walls have to be flexible to grow when required. Nguyen-Phan and Fry examine a chemical that regulates how this happens. Plant cell walls have many demands put upon them. As plants lack skeletons, the job of supporting the plant rests on their rigidity. […]

Do tree rings mark the beating of the seasons over time, or is it more complicated than that?

Rising sea levels mean increased salinity for plants on the shore, but how well do coastal plants cope with salt? New research says they're surprisingly bad at it.

Often the perennial C4 grass Urochloa humidicola is planted on infertile acidic and waterlogging-prone soils of tropical America. But what effect does that waterlogging have on its growth? Juan de la Cruz Jiménez and colleagues carried out some experiments to find out. You may think plants breathe through their leaves, and need moist soil, so […]

Where does the best pollen for reproduction come from? For Anigozanthos manglesii it comes from surprisingly close neighbours.

Is it better to grow fast, or to grow slowly and invest in the future? Structural Equation Modeling reveals that Pinus halepensis cannot decide.

Flowering plants show a high diversity of pollen morphology. This diversity is assumed to reflect not only variations in the underlying design, but also stress imposed by ecological conditions related to pollen survival and germination. Both components are expected to constrain accumulation of pollen disparity. Yu et al. perform a combination of phylogeny-based and statistical […]

Crops like sugarcane, rice, wheat and maize rely on irrigation. As they’re so thirsty, they are also susceptible to drought. Finding a way to protect the crops from drought is a challenge that needs a solution as soon as possible. One option for improving a plant’s ability to cope with water limitation is through transgenic […]

A multi-national team has been investigating how Spartina alterniflora (also Sporobolus alterniflorus) reacts to long-term wave expsoure. The findings could affect planning for ecosystem-based flood defences. Professor Dongdong Shao of Beijing Normal University explained why they chose Spartina alterniflora to study: “We chose S. alterniflora as the test species mainly because it is a perennial […]

Impatiens offers its pollinators the best nectar, but the best nectar for one pollinator isn't always the best for another.

A new crop model highlights the importance of storage conditions for garlic growth.

Tropical understory communities are highly diverse, and plants in these environments must optimize functional traits to ensure ecological and evolutionary success. Campany et al. survey the ecophysiology of two spore bearing vascular plant groups, Selaginella and ferns, in a lowland Costa Rican tropical forest understory. Selaginella in shade has higher chlorophyll levels and lower light […]