Nature constantly surprises us with ingenious adaptations that defy common sense. While most plants flee from fire or perish in its flames, some trees have evolved remarkable strategies not just to survive blazing infernos but to actively embrace them. These extraordinary plants have turned what should be their greatest threat into their most powerful ally ...
What do you get when archaeologists find a cache of ancient seeds buried deep in frozen soil? Something that shouldn’t be possible according to our understanding of biology. Yet scientists have managed to resurrect plants from seeds that predate the Roman Empire, proving that life can remain dormant far longer than anyone imagined. These ...
Wildfire is usually framed as the villain, but in the quiet aftermath of a burn, a stranger story unfolds: some plants have been waiting for the flames. Cones sealed by resin crack open, smoke chemicals whisper to buried seeds, and blackened ground becomes a nursery. The drama can feel upside down – destruction as midwife ...
Scientists thought for a long time that plant roots followed a simple rule: the deeper you go, the fewer roots there are. But a new study published in Nature Communications has turned this long-held belief on its head. It shows that 20% of plants around the world grow a second set of roots more than ...
The highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, is a land of extremes where equatorial heat gives way to Arctic ice in barely a few thousand meters. But tucked among its dramatic slopes is one of the most unusual botanical beauties in nature: the giant groundsel (Dendrosenecio kilimanjari). Rising nowhere else on Earth, these towering plants ...
