plants

Citizen scientists have helped to discover a fungus previously unknown to science in the soil of the Scottish Highlands.  Scientists analyzed 219 soil samples collected by hiking volunteers from 55 “Munros” — or mountains — in Cairngorms National Park last year and found that hidden in the dirt was a new species of fungus from […]

Despite their name, invasive species can be deceptively cute, stunning, or fragrant, inspiring people to introduce them to non-native habitats. But the issue is that some species are moved to a new area, either on purpose or by mistake, and are met with a lack of natural predators, allowing them to crowd out native species.

In the over three decades that Bob Popp has been traipsing through the Vermont woods as the state’s botanist, he had never encountered a small whorled pogonia within the state.  He had seen the yellowish-green orchid on excursions to other states, but never in Vermont, where the flower had been considered locally extinct since 1902. […]

When Australian researchers went to find out how much genetic diversity was contained in the seagrass meadows of Shark Bay, a World Heritage Area in Western Australia, they were in for a surprise.  The team from The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Flinders University took seagrass shoots covering the range of conditions present in […]

Around 6,000 years ago, more than two-thirds of Europe was covered in forest, a 2018 study found. But because of land clearing for agriculture and the use of wood for fuel, that number has more than halved, and today only around one third of Europe is woodland. In some countries like the UK and the […]

This week, the UK government introduced a Genetic Technology Bill to Parliament proposing the relaxation of regulations on genetically-edited products, like tomatoes enriched with vitamin D and wheat with reduced levels of the amino acid asparagine, which turns into carcinogenic acrylamide during the process of baking or toasting bread, according to The Guardian and UK […]

There’s nothing like an army of houseplants to brighten up a home. Interacting with indoor plants is proven to help with stress, help purify the air, and bring beauty and nature into our daily lives. But, a houseplant habit isn’t necessarily good for the environment. Here’s how to keep your plants healthy and happy without […]

Herb-infused oils are wonderful to have on hand. Depending on the dried herb used, many infused oils are versatile. You can cook with them, use them as a moisturizer, treat small scrapes and cuts and more. The best oils to use for infusing your herbs are pure plant oils that have a low smoke point […]