9 Best Articles in 2021
Quartz
A debate over plant consciousness is forcing us to confront the limitations of the human mind
Quartz
5 min read · From 2018 · Scientists and philosophers can't agree on what it means to be conscious. But everyone admits plants are incredibly complex.
e360.yale.edu
Arborists Have Cloned Ancient Redwoods From Their Massive Stumps
e360.yale.edu
2 min read · From 2018 · A cloned sapling of an ancient redwood tree.
Brain Pickings
Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium: A Forgotten Treasure at the Intersection of Science and Poetry
Brain Pickings
7 min read · From 2017 · An elegy for time and the mortality of beauty, composed with passionate patience and a sensuous cadence.
The Guardian
Nut of note: 70% of world's macadamia come from single Australian tree
The Guardian
2 min read · 2019-05-31 · New research shows a single 19th century tree in southern Queensland gave rise to the world’s dominant plant variety
The New York Times
Could Ancient Remedies Hold the Answer to the Looming Antibiotics Crisis?
The New York Times
~18 min read · From 2016 · One researcher thinks the drugs of the future might come from the past: botanical treatments long overlooked by Western medicine.
Brain Pickings
The Mesmerizing Microscopy of Trees: Otherworldly Images Revealing the Cellular Structure of Wood Specimens
Brain Pickings
4 min read · From 2018 · Stunning images that occupy the lacuna between art and science.
BBC Future
Why 'plant blindness' matters — and what you can do about it
BBC Future
5 min read · 2019-04-29 · A phenomenon called "plant blindness" means we tend to underappreciate the flora around us. That can have disastrous consequences not only for the environment, but human health.
Guardian Environment
Food for thought? French bean plants show signs of intent, say scientists
Guardian Environment
3 min read · Jan 8th · Many botanists dispute idea of plant sentience, but study of climbing beans sows seed of doubt
Atlas Obscura
A Quiet Revolution in Botany: Plants Form Memories
Atlas Obscura
~14 min read · 2019-08-16 · Inside a quiet revolution in the study of the world’s other great kingdom.
More like this
The New Yorker
Love the Fig
The New Yorker
6 min read · From 2016 · Although many people dismiss it as a geriatric delicacy, it is a biological and evolutionary wonder.
Nautilus Magazine
Learning to Speak Shrub
Nautilus Magazine
7 min read · From 2018 · Entomologist Richard Karban knows how to get sagebrush talking. To start the conversation, he poses as a grasshopper or a chewing…
Big Think
Getting serious about plant intelligence
Big Think
10 min read · From 2018 · Plant cognitive ecologist Monica Gagliano talks about the challenges facing serious scientific research into plant intelligence.
The New York Times
Watch a Flower That Seems to Remember When Pollinators Will Come Calling
The New York Times
3 min read · From 2019 · A colorful Peruvian plant dispenses its pollen according to a savvy, memory-based system, new research suggests.
Brain Pickings
A Curious Herbal: Gorgeous Illustrations from Elizabeth Blackwell’s 18th-Century Encyclopedia of Medicinal Botany
Brain Pickings
5 min read · 2020-01-29 · Time-travel to the dawn of modern medical science via the stunning art of a self-taught woman illustrator and botanist.
The Atlantic
The Unsung Hero of Western Science
The Atlantic
20+ min read · From 2016 · A friend and pupil of Aristotle, Theophrastus isn’t always credited for launching botany and much else.
The New York Times
Opinion | A Forest of Ancient Trees, Poisoned by Rising Seas
The New York Times
3 min read · From 2018 · An article about dying black gum trees hidden in a remote New Jersey swamp led me to make a list of other ecological losses. There have been a lot this year.
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