Plants
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/egGK6G3AB4wqMzByXjWWAQ-320-80.jpg)
Find out everything there is to know about plants and stay updated on the latest environment news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and plant pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more about plants as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries.Plants
Latest about Plants
![Green plants sprouting through cracks in mud](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K4wjbyG2aUMgccFjRLyzjW-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Mysterious hybrid species discovered hiding among 144-year-old 'zombie seeds' from secretive experiment
By Harry Baker published
Scientists participating in one of the longest-running active scientific experiments have discovered a surprising hybrid plant hiding among seeds buried at a secret location on a university campus since 1829.
![Aerial view of road amidst trees during autumn, Vermont, United States, USA.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qDHCX2NKejatn6qhCwcq5D-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Why do leaves change color in the fall?
By Amanda Heidt published
Plants draw on a suite of pigments to produce energy from sunlight, and in the fall, some become more obvious than others.
![fossilized flowers on red sandstone from morocco](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BKev5inAn38EFzv8SXntq8-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs allowed flowers to thrive in a post-apocalyptic world
By Patrick Pester published
Scientists have discovered flowering plants were largely unscathed by the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event 66 million years ago, allowing them to take advantage of the new, dinosaur-free planet.
![close up of a wollemi pine tree, a species that has survived since the cretaceous period](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aFGzcazaKS34vEKdyaYQRB-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Mystery of 'living fossil' tree frozen in time for 66 million years finally solved
By Richard Pallardy published
The Wollemi pine was thought to have gone extinct 2 million years ago until it was rediscovered by a group of hikers in 1994. Now, scientists have decoded its genome to understand how it's survived — almost unchanged — since the time of the dinosaurs.
![a tropical rainforest with tall trees and a gap in the canopy where the sun is coming through](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RkjTYyk9XtNWFkKQXPRpQh-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
'Once again, innovation and proliferation ended with catastrophe': The environmental disaster of plants taking over the world
By Stephen Porder published
The evolutionary leap that allowed plants to live on land 400 million years ago upended Earth in a way unseen since the Great Oxidation Event over 1.5 billion years earlier.
![a shoot of the enigmatic bamboo species henon bamboo which flowers once every 120 years](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RxL3UW2KCX2CnVHSJBYGxU-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Mysterious bamboo regeneration baffles scientists ahead of once-in-a-century blooming event
By Jacklin Kwan published
Henon bamboo flowers only once every 120 years then vanishes for years, and researchers have no idea how it regenerates.
![The pinkglow pineapple, grown in Costa Rica, gets its pink color from lycopene.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NtsJFb5H6FwwQRKK7MF2gi-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Genetically engineered pink pineapples are flying off shelves: What gives them their distinctive color?
By Donavyn Coffey published
The food giant Del Monte has created a genetically engineered pink pineapple that owes its rosy hue to higher concentrations of a pigment called lycopene.
![Mist hangs over the upper canopy of the dipterocarp rainforest in Borneo's Danum Valley.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hzWjrC9ED6pY67onRH6UX7-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Tropical rainforests could get too hot for photosynthesis and die if climate crisis continues, scientists warn
By Ben Turner published
Data collected by the International Space Station has revealed a small fraction of leaves in the world's tropical rainforests are already exceeding peak temperatures, and scientists warn that this could increase.
![an unusual species of succulent known as baby's bum because of its pink globe-like leaves](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RKN7y35XjhbRaGVazb2mJ3-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
This bizarre little succulent looks like a baby's butt
By Megan Shersby published
Gibbaeum heathii is endemic to a valley in South Africa that is surrounded by mountains and receives very little rainfall, allowing a huge range of succulent species to thrive. This bababoutjies — or baby's bum — is one of them.
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