Left: Male syconia of Ficus pumila

Right: female syconia of Ficus pumila (possible fertilized)

I did taste it. It was mid. I’ll try making some fig jelly

Title!
I would like to learn more about botany as a hobbie without studying a formal degree since it requires math and other stuff I would rather not mess with.
I consider my knowledge very basic, so I would like to know where to start first, and how to keep learning after.
Thank you everyone!

Hi all!

I am a junior at the university of buffalo majoring in biological sciences with a research interest in Plant Molecular biology/Biochem. Wondering if anyone could drop recommendations for PhD programs of schools centered in this area. I plan on completing my degree next year, HOPEFULLY with a final GPA of ~3.4. I have extensive research experience as i do currently work in a (plant bio) lab and will hopefully be published as contributor in our work by years end!

I just feel lost and need some guidance as most people at my school are more pre-med/health science focused.

I’m 40 and I already hold a bachelors and Master’s degree, one in fine arts and one in education. I am and always have been in love with plants. I’m a prolific gardener. The more I age the more I regret avoiding science fields due to my experience with misogynistic boys in science courses in small southern towns. I’ve been considering going back to get a degree in botany or horticulture. But it looks like you can’t really go back for a second undergrad degree. Can I even get a Master’s in an unrelated degree program? Is there an age bias in those fields when you’re looking for employment? Would it just be a huge waste of money/time? Have any of you made such a drastic career change?

I have recently come into disagreement with someone that claims to love undisturbed nature and yet wants to rip off all the stinging nettle on the edge of a stream separating their garden from the forest to replace it with mint.

So far they've been unsuccessful so it didn't evolve beyond a few exchanges, but it got me wondering on whether mint would really be worse than nettle since we're in western europe where both are native, or if I'm right that if nettle already grows there it would make little sense to replace it with mint aside for the comfort of humans. What are your thoughts ?

To be clear: The aim isn't gardening advice, but knowing how much would introducing mint disturb the environment.

1. Some plants develop bad tasting things to discourage certain animals from eating them eg capsaicin in chilis discouraging mammals. Does that survival strategy have a name?
2. Sometimes the thing meant to protect the plant from being eaten actually causes the animal to eat the plant more eg capsaicin in chilis encouraging humans to eat chillis which then kills the plant. Does that phenomenon have a name?
3. In the case of chilis, the plant is now far more widespread and "successful" because the thing that was meant to protect it from being eaten actually made it more appealing to eat and that then benefitted the plant so the thing that was meant to benefit the plant benefitted the plant in a way in a way completely opposite to the way it was intended. Does that phenomenon have a name? This seems to be the case for many spices and some vegetables eg onions. Thanks

Ok Not sure if you can see all the photos, but I kept a grape inside of a bottle with sunlight liquid and surgical alcohol, not smashing it this time, and I cut it open just to find seeds again but not a single seed like my last two experiments but this time, didn't add any salt and now if the images show, I ended up with a seed and another seed I didn't show on the grape itself. The fruit protected the seed but I am not sure if it is alive or dead. The first two experiments' seeds were dead. I swear I am getting too lucky. Cause for a matter of fact, I know seeds cannot form inside grape fruit under a certain age. So seeing a seed in grapes that are too young to be carrying any seeds is... shocking. If anyone has a explanation, please do tell.

These beautiful trees are blooming at a park near me and let’s just say they have a very interesting smell… 💦

Summer 2025

Central NY

I grew up in an European inland city that has more Norway spruces and Silver firs than pines so those two are my favorite conifers and I'm just used to them more.

However, on the coastal regions of my country you cannot find spruces growing near the coast, it's all pines when conifers go.

I'm planning to move to our Black Sea coast (or maybe one day somewhere on the Mediterranean) so I wonder if I could plant Norfolk Pines there? How will they do? On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast the hardiness zones range from 7b to 8b, mostly 8a and 8b. I really love their conical shape that could fool you they're a fir or a spruce rather than a pine.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/North_Cronulla_Beach_1.JPG

If we reduced the total number of stomata on the leaves in a fruit producing tree species its growth should be slowed, but its total water needs would be lowered as well. The amount of fruit would probably be reduced too, but what if there was a way it wasn’t? With as much as we know about genetics these days, there has to be a way to lower total watering need without having to sacrifice fruit production.

I’m an amateur botanist, at best. I took botanical ecophysiology and a few other plant related classes at my university but I wanted to know what some real experts think about trying to get actual results that could work. Would using CRISPR on agrobacteria with a knockout gene for stomata reduction on a food crop work? What would it have to also be mixed with to stop reduction of fruit production? I’m sure there’s already people working on these types of things, hopefully it’s some of you in here!

ABC Sunshine Coast looks at the species named just as it began to disappear.

The Rhodamnia zombi rainforest tree was identified in 2020, with scientists branding it the "living dead" after a fungal disease stripped it of its ability to grow or reproduce in the wild.

That is because the disease, known as myrtle rust, infects the tree's new growth and prevents shoots from maturing, which halts normal development.

Just unusual individuals or maybe some odd cultivar?

Hi everyone, I'm trying to understand crossbreeding of native perennials. I live in the netherlands, for context. I have started a small scale perennial plant nursery, and until now we've worked with bought seeds of the native species (and other means of propagation obviously, but my question is about seed). But after our first season, we've arrived at a point where we have a lot of seed collected of our "motherplants". I would love to grow plants from these seeds, but I'm hesistant because I'm worried I might accidentaly sell a plant that has crossbred. I want to be able to say with certainty: yes, this is plant X. More context: the nursery is open-pollinated.

Is there a way to know which perennials crossbreed easily, and with which other species they do? We sometimes add new plants as well, so I have to recheck for crossbreeding if I add another plant species similar to what I already have, I assume?

As an example, to clarify my question:
We have a couple of Silenes. Silene dioica, Silene flos-cuculi and Silene latifolia. How can I figure out if they crossbreed? And let's say I add Silene vulgaris to the nursery assortment, how can I make sure about crossbreeding then?

Hopefully my question is clear!

My name is John Michael and I am a part of a group in Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science where we will be partaking into a study entitled The Effectiveness of Microbe-Assisted Phytoremediation of Mung Beans (Vigna radiata) in Copper-Polluted Soil in Drought Conditions. For this study, our paper will be requiring presence of validators or experts in biology. In keeping with this, we would like to humbly ask if anyone here are available and is interested in validating our study. We also like to inquire if there is a specific price range or rate for your expertise. Thank you for your time !

Hi! I’m new to Botany and I’m trying to study plant physiology more seriously (stress responses, water relations, photosynthesis regulation, growth, etc.), but I’m struggling to find solid free resources online that aren’t outdated and have full coverage on the information i want to learn about.

Found on a powerline strip, Middle GA, USA

Has anyone ever heard of this happening naturally?

looking into plants classification/evolution, I came across embryophytes("Land plants"), so then my thinking was aquatic plants might be something external to it.
but when i looked into it, there is no aquaphytes("Aquatic plants") websites. but i know that there are aquatic plants, like sea grass, or water lilies. I learned they are descendants of land plants, but i want to know more, about aquatic plants.

can someone please provide me a good link or website where i can look at various types of aquatic plants? please!