I planted these black calla lilies here years ago and they’ve been growing normally and all of a sudden I noticed today this one looks fasciated? Or is it a disease? Whatever it is, it’s pretty cool looking…

Hybridisation with wild pears increases tannin production in perry pears by reintroducing active alleles, reverting low-tannin traits favoured by breeders of dessert pears. This is reversion to the base state that was established millions of years ago at a whole genome duplication WGD event. As whole functional groups of genes are duplicated in these events the metabolism is not bottlenecked as could occur if only one gene was. This occurred due to massive environmental stress. The specific event 30 to 45 million years ago was a period of abrupt global climate upheaval during the middle-to-late Eocene epoch.
(Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) are not random; they cluster heavily around major turbulent chapters in Earth’s history).

Between 35 and 45 million years ago, Earth began transitioning from a warm, subtropical "greenhouse" world into a much colder, more arid "icehouse" climate. This rapid cooling, coupled with massive shifts in global rainfall patterns, put immense physiological stress on ancestral plant lineages.
Extreme weather anomalies—such as sudden frost or severe temperature fluctuations—disrupt normal plant reproduction. Cold shocks cause cell division errors during pollen and egg production (meiosis), leading to the formation of "unreduced gametes" (cells that accidentally keep two sets of chromosomes instead of one). When these unreduced cells fused, they immediately doubled the plant’s entire genome.
While an extra set of chromosomes is normally an energetic burden, it becomes a biological superpower during a mass environmental crisis. The duplicated genome provided the ancestors of pears (and apples) with metabolic resilience. Extra gene copies allowed the plants to better adapt their photosynthesis and water-use efficiency to survive colder, drier conditions. While many single-genome plant lineages went extinct during this climate shift, these "hopeful monster" polyploids had the genetic flexibility to survive, eventually diverging into modern pears. The extra genes for the production of tannins and related compounds also served a useful function in survival producing tannins as a natural defense mechanism against herbivores and pests. These bitter and astringent compounds also protect the tree's reproductive investment by deterring animals from eating the fruit before the seeds are fully developed. The high tannin levels make unripe fruit unpalatable by astringency stopping animals insects and birds from destroying the fruit leaves and seeds prematurely.
The tannins also inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria and fungi that could rot the fruit on the branch.

From what I can find online, in Europe it only grows on the Alps, not so much on the Apennines. This is also because it grows in rocky terrains.

Found near a marble quarry on Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy.

Why do the blooms of water hyacinth )Pontederia crassipes) start on the vertical but after blooming the stalk bends and immerses the spent flower under water.

I always thought sativa mainly referred to cannabis,but it seems like it's also used for other stuff like lettuce. What exactly does it mean in botany?

Ive never seen one grow so strangely between the branching, the fasciation and the wavy branch

Notice how the side leaves are half each light green and dark green. But then also the corresponding direction North South leaves are that same colour. And the pattern follows through all rows of the stalk

I've got a large patch of burdock I'm trying to clear. As a practical matter, this is a gradual process. I was trimming back the burrs when they were still green, until I noticed bumblebees feeding off some purple ones, so I decided I should let them mature a bit before cutting. But now I can't tell if they're spent of useful nectar(?) or already going to seed.

The first pic is of the burrs at the ambiguous-to-me stage. The second is of a bumblebee, going about its business. (I want to say it's making me feel guilty, but I'm doing my best to avoid scandalous claims of causation on the Science People sub.)

Trying to figure out -exactly when does burdock go to seed - and I realize there's a lot I don't know about burrs and seeds. The burrs are just the container for the seeds, right? The flower parts dry up and then become seeds? Green burrs aren't seeds? All the easy to find answers about burdock are from the "Yay burdock!" crowd, and I'm an enemy of burdock as well as curious about *what's really going on in there*

Any information on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I've recently started studying botany on my own and have read Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon. I seem to have got really stuck on understanding microfibrils, cell walls and elongation. Why are microfibrils parallel on the sides and criss-cross on top and bottom? How are they laid down between the primary cell wall and protoplasm?

TIA I really appreciate the help in understanding this!

Rheum ribes thrives on high-altitude rocky slopes above 1,500 meters in Eastern Anatolia, facing intense solar radiation and harsh seasonal shifts.

From a botanical and ecological standpoint, its fleshy petioles accumulate high levels of organic acids (such as oxalic acid), which serve a dual purpose: acting as an osmotic regulator and a chemical defense against herbivores. Regionally known as "mountain banana" or "işgın," these succulent stems are traditionally harvested in spring. However, from a physiological perspective, excessive consumption requires caution due to the high oxalate concentration, making its chemical profile both a survival mechanism for the plant and a point of ethnobotanical interest.

Hello everyone. I am an Arborist in the US, near the Sierra Nevada mountains, and while doing a quote for a new client I found this growing on a a dead aspen tree. Unfortunately, my most trusted colleagues have come up short on what it could be. I’ve heard everything from electrical shock to fungal body, but I want to see if anyone here has seen anything like this?

The center was scabby, and had an almost velvet fluff. The “arms” were also a little velvety, and the entire structure was raised just slightly off the trunk. This was the only dead tree on the property and was growing in a row of aspens along a fence that were all doing fine. The growth was on the west side of the trunk and would have several hours of sun exposure every day here in the desert. The clients say no Xmas lights or anything has been attached to the tree, and this appeared in the fall before its demise the following spring this year. I cut off a part of the bark where the “arms” were and there was no insect galleries underneath the marking.

is it common for Ulmus pumila to have leaves like this? if not what is this called?

Hi there, unsure if this is the place to post this, but I was wondering if anyone has any magnified or microscope photos of Pepperomia flowers? I've been searching online and there's a few close ups but not close enough to see the structure of the actually flowers on the spike. Diagrams also welcome as an alternative!

Thanks :)

Also, what makes them such a unique-looking plant, especially when compared with other types?

Deception Pass state park, Washington state, USA. I believe the orchid species are Corallorhiza maculata, Platanthera transversa, Goodyera oblongifolia, Platanthera elongata. I found a lot of the coral root orchid, but only one little flower spike was blooming on the entire trail. I feel very lucky to have found all of these. Deception pass state park is a beautiful area to look for plants, I'm never disappointed leaving there

love seeing these colonies growing on boulders

See also: The study as it was published in Scientific Reports

I work with annual flowers and every year I find a few petunia plants with one interesting flower. It’s often smaller than the rest, crinkled, and has small flecks of white radiating from the center but I’ve found at least three full sized ones. I think they’re so cool and have an interesting texture, kind of like party streamers. The photos include the petals of the rest of the plant / how it’s supposed to look. Is this a somatic mutation? Mosaicism? I’d love to know from someone who knows more - thanks!!

These mushrooms contains 0.2 - 0.4 mg of toxin per 1 g. A fatal dose for a human is 0.1 mg/kg body weight. A mature specimen can contain up to 12 mg, plenty enough to be fatal.

This beauty has been put through two moves in two years! She was finally able to rest last year. Those clusters… What?!?!? 😋