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Pollia pigmentation pooh-poohed

Image: Vignolini et al. Despite appearances – and often therefore assumptions – to the contrary, the intense blue-colour of the fruit of Pollia condensata is not due to pigment(s). Instead, it is...

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Nanoparticles may compromise crops

Image: Priester et al. 2012, PNAS. Advances (ever an optimistic notion!) in technology take many forms and may have unanticipated consequences. Take, for example, the emerging discipline of...

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Phytonumeracy

Image: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen. Gera-Untermhaus, 1897. Echoing a plea from Ron Milo and Robert Last that computational methods [which is sort of ‘math(s)’…] should be used to...

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Fire

Image: Wikimedia Commons. Picking up on my elemental theme, fire has long been considered a major influence on evolution of the angiosperms, whether natural or anthropogenic conflagrations. This...

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Because they’re not red(!)

Image: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen. Gera-Untermhaus, 1897. Although this may appear to be a smart-arse answer to the question ‘Why are plants green?’, it’s probably not too wide of...

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Chloroplasts are how old???

Image: Mariana Ruiz Villarreal/Wikimedia Commons. It is widely acknowledged that eukaryotic cells (you know, the ones with a membrane-bound nucleus and a variety of other membrane-bound organelles (cf....

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Say it with flowers?

Image: Júlio Reis/Wikimedia Commons. It’s always pleasing to me to know that mankind’s relationship with botanics is a very old and important one. Indeed, so important and profound are these...

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Money doesn’t grow on trees… (2) [Or, From cuddly koalas to bird poo…]

Image: David Iliff/Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 3.0). OK, I know, this item is the real ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ story you were expecting. So, I’ll try not to disappoint. Melvyn Lintern et al....

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Everything benefits from a little lift

Image: Wikimedia Commons. Roots generally absorb water from the soil and transport it above ground to the stem, branches, etc. Where the soil is too dry for water to be absorbed by the roots, the roots...

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Brilliant bird-brained bryophyte diaspore diaspora…

Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur. Leipzig and Vienna: Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, 1904. Pin for later There is an ancient and time-honoured association – maybe co-evolution even –...

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