Plant

Although the chemistry of autumn colours is well understood, there is an ongoing debate among scientists about why trees evolved their vivid autumn colours in the first place.

The world's most mysterious and elusive orchid lives underground in Australia. Scientists are trying to rescue this botanic marvel from going completely extinct.

As tiny pieces of plastic clog our oceans, natural meadows of seagrass are bundling up microplastics and spitting them back out onto beaches in the form of "Neptune balls".

The chestnut trees of Europe tell a hidden story charting the fortunes of ancient Rome and the legacy it left in the continent's forests.

New research is showing just how much plants and crops rely on a host of darkness-dwelling creepy crawlies.

To protect crops from rising droughts, scientists are looking to the genes of a small group of plants that can survive months of drought then regreen within hours.

After thousands of rare Chilean cacti were found in the house of an Italian collector, a years-long trial slowly unravelled how they got there.

Thousands of new species have been discovered by scientists this year – here are some of the weirdest.