A new approach to working blue
These fruits are full of fat and want birds to know.
Animals and plants come in pretty much every colour under the rainbow, but you may have looked around and noticed tha...
Plants
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The good ooze on slime mould
Seven things you probably didn’t know about these organisms that aren’t plant, animal or fungus.
Despite what the name suggests, the slimy blobs known as slime moulds aren’t actually moulds. Originally miscatego...
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Loss of animal biodiversity spells doom for some plants
Animal-dispersed plants’ abilities to adapt to climate change reduced by 60% due to a loss of bio...
More bad news for flora, with research indicating that even a small drop in wildlife can have dramatic effects on bot...
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Waratah genome mapped for the first time
Genetic puzzle of the iconic Australian flower is finally solved.
In a world-first, researchers have mapped the genome of the striking crimson flower, Telopea speciosissima – the most...
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Fungi: The secret kingdom we don't see
What rules all life on land: fungi.
As this year’s SCINEMA International Science Film Festival draws ever closer Annamaria Talas, director of SCINEMA 201...
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A Christmas Tree-t: Our 9 favourite tree stories of 2021
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a new way of scanning trees.
Since the 16th century, we have been bringing trees into our homes around the Christmas period and decorating them wi...
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Magazine
Paddock of dreams
Dean Nicolle’s childhood passion for eucalypts has blossomed into an immense undertaking that has...
At Currency Creek Arboretum, an hour south of Adelaide, over 32 hectares and the last three decades, Dean Nicolle has...
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Rewinding evolution to capture the sun
Reversing plants’ evolution promises improved pathogen control and greater yields
In a bid to ensure food security through productive, disease-resistant plants, researchers from the ARC Centre of Exc...
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The perils and prevention of invasive species
Invasive plants and animals cost Australia’s economy about $25 billion a year – which makes payin...
Australia is facing a “sliding doors” moment when it comes to invasive species, according to a new report by the CSIR...
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Incredibly rare botanical event captured in amber
These entombed ancient sprouts pose intriguing questions for biologists.
The rare sight of 40 million-year-old seeds sprouting from a pinecone fossil has been found immortalised in amber. ...
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Go figure: new fig species identified on Uluru
Botanists have identified a precious fig from Australia’s desert as a new species.
Figs are extensively used by First Nations peoples in Australia, but until recently only one species was known to bot...
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How plants survive in the Atacama
Researchers identify key genes that help hardy shrubs adapt to the Atacama desert.
In the harsh, arid conditions of Chile’s vast Atacama Desert – the driest non-polar desert on the planet – only the m...