Measuring nectar from eucalypts
...ded that nectar production in Spotted Gum on a per flower basis was not affected by logging history nor tree...est stands is estimated on the basis of individual flower measurements and counts of flowers and trees, the study found that mature forest produced almost 10 ...Bumblebees make bee line for gardens, National Bumblebee Nest Survey finds
...also like nesting in compost heaps, bird boxes and flower beds. Gardeners like to see flowers almost all year round, so this ensures continuity of nectar and pollen sources for the bees throughout spring and summer at a density rarely encountered in the countryside. Bumblebees' penchant for nesting in lin...Size and positioning of floral anthers facilitates pollen collection by bees
...equences can change the developmental pattern of a flower and thus its morphologyeither dooming it if its po...many taxa of flowering plants to gain insight into flower evolution. In a study reported in the International Journal of Plant Science, Dr. Endress and his c...Size and positioning of floral anthers facilitates
...equences can change the developmental pattern of a flower and thus its morphologyeither dooming it if its po...many taxa of flowering plants to gain insight into flower evolution. In a study reported in the International Journal of Plant Science, Dr. Endress and his co...Weeds survive the wild better than natives
...e pollinators - insects that carry pollen from one flower to another facilitating fertilisation - visited weeds and natives, the attack by herbivores may have an unfair advantage for the weed. "Essentially it may give weeds the upper hand over native plants," she said. "What I wanted to see was the herb...Research identifies protein that signals flowering in squash plants
...g night) in order to flower. These are plants that flower as the days grow shorter, such as in the fall in temperate regions. Long day (LD) plants will flower when nights are short (and days are long), and typically flower in late spring or early summer. SD c...Fire ants are emerging nuisance for Virginians
...The fire ants can also damage developing fruit and flower buds on tomatoes and other plants. "They also pose a problem for young or debilitated livestock," Miller added. "A calf may not have the strength or mobility to escape an attack by ant workers, especially if it is disabled in some way." Although a...Nature surrenders flowery secrets to international team
...s of examples of inflorescences, which include the flower clusters of Mountain Ash, the tiny filigreed blossoms on Lilac and the stalkier inflorescences in Fireweed. Published in the May 24 online edition of the journal Science, the teams paper outlines the mathematical model, molecular genetics and evolu...Scientists seek useful traits in wild cottons
...(bracts) at the base of each boll a few days after flower blooms open. Determining whether this trait is dominant, co-dominant or recessive and finding its DNA location could help breeders develop upland cottons that require less lint cleaning producing cleaner fiber with less ginning costs, Gannaway...Plants with male and bisexual flowers on the same plant are better mothers
...e their sexual organs: from both sexes in the same flower to sexes separated in different flowers or individuals. One widespread sexual strategy that remains an evolutionary enigma is the production of both male and bisexual flowers in the same plant, which occurs in approximately 4000 species. What is the ...Flowers shape themselves to guide their pollinators to the pollen
...erican Naturalist, he reports that the fit between flower and pollinator is key: bats pollinate wide flowers better, while hummingbirds transfer more pollen between narrow flowers. Videotaping demonstrated that a poor fit fails to correctly guide the pollinator while feeding. This tradeoff in adapting to ba...UBC researchers reveal dwarf aquatic plants' hidden ancestry
...zens of minute flowers clustered into each compact flower head. Native to Australia, New Zealand and India, they thrive in seasonal freshwater pools and swamps, and may blossom underwater at depths of up to one metre, or as the pools dry out. "For more than a century, scientists have been piecing toget...Whiteflies and plant viruses can help each other to speed up biological invasion
...spread invasion has been assisted by the worldwide flower trade. The question remains how this pest can increase so rapidly and displace native biotypes of whitefly after it has been transported to new localities. The research compared development, survival, fecundity and population increase of the invas...Brown team finds crucial protein role in deadly prion spread
...ster of flowers that each carries a seed. When the flower dries up and the wind blows, the seeds disperse. P... way. Hsp104 acts like the wind, blowing apart the flower and spreading the seeds." Serio said that prions still multiply without fragmentation. However, sh...World's largest flower evolved from family of much tinier blooms
...RIDGE, Mass. -- The plant with the world's largest flower -- typically a full meter across, with a bud the s...nvolved in this research. "The massive increase in flower size is one of the most significant among living organisms, and could never have been deduced by con...Annual plants may cope with global warming better than long-living species
...tion pattern put a selective pressure on plants to flower earlier, especially annual plants like field musta...wed the scientists to determine that the change in flower timing was in fact an evolutionary shift -- not a simple reaction to changing weather conditions. Th...Scientists develop method to find genetic basis for plant variation
.... Phenotypic differences can include anything from flower color to cold sensitivity or sodium concentration. This ubiquitous tendency of individuals and populations to vary is termed natural variation. Evolutionary theory proposes that differences among populations can arise for evolutionarily favorable, or...Plant biologist seeks molecular differences between rice and its mimic
...ce. The plants are as tall as cultivated rice and flower at the same time. These "crop mimics" are difficult to spot. Olsen hopes understanding trait differences can lead to eradication of red rice. "We're looking for anything that exploits the difference between the crop and the weed ...... field of plant developmental biology. His work on flower development, the regulation of flowering, and the evolution of adaptive traits was groundbreaking and secured him unanimous international recognition. By expressing the flower-identity gene LEAFY in aspen plants, he was able to reduce the trees flowe......nisms, have internal clocks that tell them when to flower by taking cues from the length of daylight. During the Green Revolution, breeders of many grains eliminated photoperiod sensitivity so that plants could be grown anywhere, anytime. The catch was that these non-photoperiod-sensitive plants required ...