Botany

Sciences & Technology

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Under the Microscope

How Australia’s ancient forests became an arid zone

Studying the genetic relationships between desert plants is helping Dr Rachael Fowler to understand how they evolved in Australia’s arid zone, once dense forest

Sciences & Technology

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Under the Microscope

A sustainable future for women in science

After a career break, Dr Anne-Marie Tosolini is now researching forests that grew in Antarctica around 56 million years ago, providing important data for Earth’s future climate

Sciences & Technology

How plants tell time

Unlike us, plants can’t head to the fridge for a midnight snack, but a new study shows they sense time at dusk to conserve energy produced from sunlight during the day

Environment

The stories of Australia’s botanical biodiversity

Established in 1926, the University of Melbourne Herbarium has an estimated 150,000 specimens, each with their own story to tell

Sciences & Technology

All the forests in the world from a single layer of cells

Researchers have discovered the workings of wood-making cells inside trees, settling a century-old debate about how plants make bark and wood

Sciences & Technology

The chemical that tells plants when it’s time to sleep

Ethylene is famous as the chemical that tells bananas to ripen, but new research shows it also helps maintain plants’ circadian clocks

Environment

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Go Figure

How sunflowers track the sun

Once a mythological story of unrequited love was used as an explanation. Now we know there is an internal clock driving its daily movement.

Sciences & Technology

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Go Figure

A weed by any other name

One habitat’s sweet meadow flower is another’s worst nightmare. So what makes a plant a weed and how do they get about?