Endangered Plants News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

How Madagascar’s Lizards Became the Island’s Last Hope for Reforestation

June 10, 2025 — After millions of years of evolutionary isolation, Madagascar developed an unparalleled array of wildlife, and recent research has uncovered an unsung ecological hero: the lizard. Though often ...

Two Plant Species Invent the Same Chemically Complex and Medically Interesting Substance

June 3, 2025 — The biosynthesis of the great variety of natural plant products has not yet been elucidated for many medically interesting substances. In a new study, an international team of researchers was able to ...

'Future-Proofing' Crops Will Require Urgent, Consistent Effort

May 29, 2025 — A professor of crop sciences and of plant biology describes research efforts to 'future-proof' the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, who has spent decades studying the process of photosynthesis and ...

Living Libraries Could Save Our Food

May 29, 2025 — Scientists have pioneered a new way to breed climate-resilient crops faster by combining plant genebank data with climate and DNA analysis. The method, tested on sorghum, could speed up global efforts to secure food supplies in a changing ...

A Root Development Gene That's Older Than Root Development

May 26, 2025 — A gene that regulates the development of roots in vascular plants is also involved in the organ development of liverworts -- land plants so old they don't even have proper roots. The discovery highlights the fundamental evolutionary dynamic of ...

Flowers Unfold With Surprising Precision, Despite Unruly Genes

May 26, 2025 — Flowers grow stems, leaves and petals in a perfect pattern again and again. A new study shows that even in this precise, patterned formation in plants, gene activity inside individual cells is far more chaotic than it ...

Earliest Use of Psychoactive and Medicinal Plant 'Harmal' Identified in Iron Age Arabia

May 23, 2025 — A new study uses metabolic profiling to uncover ancient knowledge systems behind therapeutic and psychoactive plant use in ancient ...

Different Phases of Evolution During Ice Age

May 23, 2025 — Cold-adapted animals started to evolve 2.6 million years ago when the permanent ice at the poles became more prevalent. There followed a time when the continental ice sheets expanded and contracted and around 700,000 years ago the cold periods ...

Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?

May 21, 2025 — When pollinators visit flowers, they produce various sounds, from wing flapping during hovering, to landing and takeoff. Scientists studied these vibroacoustic signals to develop noninvasive and efficient methods for monitoring pollinator ...

Plant Cell Sculptors

May 21, 2025 — New research has shed light on how plants precisely control their growth and development, revealing that seemingly similar molecular components fulfill surprisingly different ...

A New Technology for Extending the Shelf Life of Produce

May 21, 2025 — Researchers developed a way to extend the shelf life of vegetables by injecting them with melatonin using biodegradable ...

On the Origin (and Fate) of Plants That Never Bloom

May 20, 2025 — Plants that reproduce exclusively by self-pollination arise from populations with extremely low diversity to begin with. The research not only adds a facet to possible evolutionary strategies, but also lends weight to Darwin's suspicion that this ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:07pm EDT

What a Dinosaur Ate 100 Million Years ago—Preserved in a Fossilized Time Capsule

June 10, 2025 — A prehistoric digestive time capsule has been unearthed in Australia: plant fossils found inside a sauropod dinosaur offer the first definitive ...

Scientists Find Immune Molecule That Supercharges Plant Growth

June 6, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that a molecule known for defending animal immune systems called itaconate also plays a powerful role in plants. Researchers showed that itaconate not only exists in plant ...

First-of-Its-Kind Global Study Shows Grasslands Can Withstand Climate Extremes With a Boost of Nutrients

May 19, 2025 — Fertilizer might be stronger than we thought. A new international study found that fertilizer can help plants survive short-term periods of extreme ...

How Did Plants Evolve the Ability to Transport Massive Amounts of Protein Into Seed Vacuoles?

May 19, 2025 — A research team has revealed the molecular steps that led to the emergence of this plant-specific vacuolar transport system. Their work shows that ...

Dual Associations With Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness

May 15, 2025 — When trees and soil fungi form close associations with each other, both partners benefit. Many tree species have further enhanced this cooperation by forming a concurrent symbiosis with two different ...

Europe's Forest Plants Thrive Best in Light-Rich, Semi-Open Woodlands -- Kept Open by Large Herbivores

May 14, 2025 — Before Homo sapiens arrived, Europe's forests were not dense and dark but shaped by open and light-rich woodland landscapes. Researchers have ...

Should We Protect Non-Native Species? A New Study Says Maybe

May 14, 2025 — A new study found that over a quarter of the world's naturalized plant species are threatened in parts of their native range -- raising questions about the role non-native populations may play in ...

A Plant You've Never Heard of Can Do What Scientists Once Thought Impossible

May 13, 2025 — A new study shows that an unassuming plant has some very unusual family ...

Growth Before Photosynthesis: How Trees Regulate Their Water Balance

May 13, 2025 — In order for trees to grow, they need to control their water balance meticulously. A study shows how trees react to drought -- and revises previous ...

New Pests and Diseases Will Cut UK Tree Growth

Apr. 28, 2025 — The arrival of new plant pests and diseases is likely to severely damage UK trees and woodlands in the coming decades, new research ...

New Plant Leaf Aging Factor Found

May 30, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a protein that is involved in plant leaf ...

Biologists Create a One-Stop Shop for World's Most Charismatic Plants, Ferns

May 7, 2025 — Biologists have create a web portal for the world's most charismatic plants, ...

Traditional Forest Medicinal Plant Ghost Pipe Used Differently Today

May 2, 2025 — Despite a long history of traditional medicinal use in the United States, the collection, consumption and efficacy of the peculiar forest plant aptly named ghost pipe, scientific name Monotropa ...

AI System Targets Tree Pollen Behind Allergies

May 1, 2025 — Imagine trying to tell identical twins apart just by looking at their fingerprints. That's how challenging it can be for scientists to distinguish the tiny powdery pollen grains produced by fir, ...

New Study Unlocks How Root Cells Sense and Adapt to Soil

Apr. 30, 2025 — Scientists have discovered, for the first time how root cells respond to their complex soil environment revealing that roots actively sense their microenvironment and mount precise, cell-specific ...

Will the Vegetables of the Future Be Fortified Using Tiny Needles?

Apr. 29, 2025 — Researchers have shown they can inexpensively nanomanufacture silk microneedles to precisely fortify crops, monitor plant health, and detect soil ...

Invasive Weed Threatens Southern California's Deserts

Apr. 24, 2025 — Once thought resistant to invasion, California's deserts are losing native plants to aggressive weedy species like Saharan mustard. New research shows its spread is disrupting biodiversity and ...

E-I-E-I-Omics: New Discoveries in Corn Genetics Could Help Grow More Productive, Resilient Crops

Apr. 22, 2025 — By analyzing DNA from different cells in nearly 200 lines of maize plants, research has revealed insights that could help growers better adapt their crops to a fast-changing ...

How Bacteria Use Sneaky Chemistry to Disable Plant Defenses

Apr. 21, 2025 — In the microscopic battlefield of plant-microbe interactions, plants are constantly fighting off invading bacteria. New research reveals just how clever these bacterial invaders can ...

Disrupting 'Communication' With Plants Could Limit Soybean Cyst Nematode Infections

Apr. 18, 2025 — A new study opens new avenues for combating soybean cyst nematodes, the most damaging pest for U.S. soybean ...

Sugar-Mimicking Molecule Central to Virulence of a Common Crop Disease

Apr. 17, 2025 — In plants, the space between cells is a key battleground during infection. To avoid recognition in this space, a strain of the bacterial tomato disease Pseudomonas syringae manipulates plants by ...

Nutrients Strengthen Link Between Precipitation and Plant Growth, Study Finds

Apr. 17, 2025 — A new study has investigated how the relationship between mean annual precipitation (MAP) and grassland biomass changes when one or more nutrients are added. The authors show that precipitation and ...

Forward Genetics Approach Reveals the Factor Responsible for Carbon Trade-Off in Leaves

Apr. 16, 2025 — Starch and oils are known as storehouses of carbon in plants. However, the way in which carbon resources are allocated during metabolism in plants remained unknown. Now, however, using a forward ...

Growing Wildflowers on Disused Urban Land Can Damage Bee Health

Apr. 15, 2025 — Wildflowers growing on land previously used for buildings and factories can accumulate lead, arsenic and other metal contaminants from the soil, which are consumed by pollinators as they feed, a new ...

New Plant Molecule Encourages Plant-Fungi Symbiosis to Improve Crops

Apr. 14, 2025 — Scientists use small peptides to enhance symbiosis between plants and fungi, offering a sustainable alternative to artificial fertilizers. Plant biologists discover new plant molecule, CLE16, as well ...

First New Plant Tissue Discovered in 160 Years Boosts Crop Yields

Apr. 10, 2025 — A research team has discovered a new tissue in plants that plays an essential role in seed formation by regulating the flow of nutrients into the seed. The team used their findings to increase the ...

From Bacterial Immunity to Plant Sex

Apr. 9, 2025 — Could it be that one of only three known markers directly targeting the DNA does not exist outside the realm of microbes? Now, researchers have demonstrated that this marker -- N4-methylcytosine ...

Lactic Acid Bacteria Can Improve Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives

Apr. 8, 2025 — A new study maps how specific lactic acid bacteria can enhance both the flavor and nutritional quality of plant-based dairy alternatives. The findings may have wide-reaching perspectives for the ...

Researchers Reveal Why Young Plants May Be More Vulnerable to Disease

Apr. 4, 2025 — A new study reveals an evolutionary trade-off that young plants face to develop disease ...

Picky Eaters by Day, Buffet by Night: Butterfly, Moth Diets Sync to Plant Aromas

Apr. 3, 2025 — The scent of blooming flowers and fresh plant life is not just a perk of springtime; it is a key driver in the survival and evolution of butterflies and moths. New research reveals how the daily ...