An orchid gives assistance, forests reduced persistence, and weeds’ electrical resistance
Botanists uncover the reason for an orchid’s delicate shape, deforestation is probably worse than you thought, and a test of killing weeds without herbicide.
Tag: orchids
Approaches for orchid conservation at the U.S. Botanic Garden
The United States Botanic Garden combines science and education to keep orchids safe in their collections and in the wild.
How will plants cope with fewer pollinators?
A recent paper highlights a critical research gap, and reveals the potential for finding new data in old places.
Sexual deception in Australian orchids
Your chance to catch a highlight of Botany 2020.
The niche does not differ between self- and cross-pollinated Epipactis orchids in Europe
The ecological niche of 14 orchids is more determined by bedrock and land cover than their mating systems.
Tricky flowers: how floral variation in a food-deceptive orchid is maintained over generations
Sometimes it’s a good idea not to send a consistent message to your pollinators.
Evaluating the structure of epiphyte–phorophyte networks
Naranjo et al. provide a perspective on epiphyte–phorophyte networks and their placement with respect to the networks of other biotic interactions.
How Dracula orchids lure flies for pollination
With over 28000 species of orchid, it seems like there’s an orchid for every niche. The Dracula orchid’s niche is mimicking a mushroom.
The orchid that mimics not just one organism but two
Why would you need a massive flower to imitate a tiny fly? A new study of a Peruvian orchid reveals something strange is going on.
How do orchids get a taste for fungi?
You may have heard the phrase “you are what you eat”, but some scientists are tracking the evolution of new diets in orchids by taking the phrase literally.
Adaptation in the root epidermis: the velamen radicum
Zotz and colleagues ask for a re-evaluation of the occurrence, evolution, and function of the velamen radicum in both terrestrial and epiphytic angiosperms
Mixotrophy in boreal pyroloids does not vary with tissue age or light level
Pyroloid mixotrophy does not respond plastically to ageing or to light level. This contrasts with the usual view of a convergent evolution with orchids.
Plants enjoying the high life
Why be nice, when you can cheat your way to success?
The Disa orchids are a puzzle. Why do only some of them give a reward? What is it about deceitful pollination that works better for some plants?