Herkogamy, the spatial separation of sex organs in hermaphroditic plants, is thought to have evolved to reduce self-pollination and inbreeding within a population. Yet there has been little evidence to support these...
The Venus Fly Trap is not the only carnivorous plant with a snap-trap. Aldrovanda vesiculosa, the waterwheel plant, has one too but it's not always been clear how it works.
It's known that microbes in the soil can help plants fight pests. Now research published in New Phytologist shows that plants can be used to create anti-pest microbiomes.
Ramoneda et al. propose specific experimental approaches to utilize the wild ancestors of crops to determine whether crop domestication compromised the benefits derived from root microbial symbioses or not.
Floral polymorphism and environmental heterogeneity Polymorphism in flower colour may be maintained either by pollinator preferences or by environmental fluctuations. Tang and Huan examine gynoecium colour polymorphism...
I owe thanks to Dr Andrej Pavlovič for being a patient guinea pig with my first press-release (you can find it on Science Daily) and to Lizzie Shannon-Little at OUP for helping put it out. It’s good timing because...