Botany
This Massive New Guidebook Will Forever Change the Way You Look at Trees
Written by Smithsonian botanist W. John Kress, the book details more than 300 North American tree species in words, maps and photographs—and why we shouldn't take them for granted
Scientists Identify the Gene Behind Thorny Roses and Other Prickly Plants
A recent study could pave the way to cultivating various thornless plants, making them easier to grow and potentially more widely available
Honor the Natural Beauty of These Tremendous Trees With 15 Photographs From the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest
Find your inner Lorax and enjoy the glory of the forest and the trees in these submissions
No, Dinosaurs Did Not Trudge Through Thick Rainforests
The first jungles dense with flowering plants only formed after an asteroid impact wiped out the giant creatures
The 'World's Loneliest Plant' Could Soon Find a Mate With a Little Help From A.I.
The only known wild Wood's cycad was discovered in 1895, and it has since been cloned into many male trees. Now, researchers are scouring a forest in South Africa for an elusive female specimen
Botanists Vote to Remove Racial Slur From Hundreds of Plant Species Names
In a first for taxonomy, researchers opted to change scientific names containing derivatives of the slur “caffra” to derivatives of “afr,” in reference to the plants' origins in Africa
Has Life on Earth Survived More Than Five Mass Extinctions?
Scientists aren’t just arguing whether humans are causing a sixth mass extinction event now, but whether many more occurred in the past
Did the Extinction of the Dinosaurs Pave the Way for Grapes?
Newly discovered fossils in South America hint at the evolution and proliferation of grapes around the world
Rare 'Absolutely Tiny' Plant, Not Seen for More Than a Century, Found in Vermont
The last time a botanist recorded a sighting of false mermaid-weed in the state was in 1916
This Tiny Fern Has the World's Largest Known Genome
The plant's genome has about 50 times as many base pairs as a human's, and its DNA from a single cell would stretch longer than a football field
Why Do Trees Drop So Many Seeds One Year, and Then Hardly Any the Next?
A new paper suggests that plants may use slow seed years to prevent the spread of disease
The English Farmers Who Harvest Rhubarb by Candlelight
The secret to the world’s sweetest rhubarb? Sealed sheds, total darkness and a little old-fashioned flair
How Rapa Nui Lost a Tree, Only to Have It Sprout Up Elsewhere
Before the toromiro disappeared from the island, at least two men grabbed seeds from the last remaining plant and brought them home
These Researchers Are Digging Into the Understudied Science of Roots
After centuries of neglect, botanists are using new techniques to understand roots
In Minnesota, Researchers Are Moving Trees Farther North to Save Forests
As the world warms, trees in such forests will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That's where assisted migration comes in
The Surprising Possibilities of See-Through Wood
Stronger than plastic and tougher than glass, the resin-filled material is being exploited for smartphone screens, insulated windows and more
Five Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Jack-O’-Lantern
A horticulturalist with the New York Botanical Garden provides advice for prolonging the life of your pumpkin
Archaeologists Find the First Red Paint Made From Plants
Hunter-gatherers cooked up the alluring pigment in the Eastern Mediterranean 15,000 years ago
The World Has a New Hottest Pepper
Pepper X is three times spicier than the previous record-holder, the Carolina Reaper
See the Rancid, Blooming Corpse Flowers Attracting Hundreds in California
The plants' rare and pungent blooms happen once every few years and last only a couple of days
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