The Week in Botany September 28, 2026
This week: Sreetama Bhadra on the importance of curiosity, how plants avoid sunburn, and making your neighbourhood more pollinator-friendly
Stories from Botany
Use this page to scan recent stories from Botany, see the themes that keep appearing, and jump into complete story briefs.
Recurring themes in this source.
The Week in BotanyScience SharedPlants & PeoplePlant of the WeekEcosystemsClose EncountersCellsGenes & MoleculesPuzzlesMeeting Plant Scientists
Recent curated reads
Science Shared: September 25
This week: Hormones, proteins and a reminder that science has a human element.
Humans Have a Profound Impact on Urban Biodiversity
Urbanization leads to a 50:50 ratio of native to non-native plant species
Night Gardeners and Sticky Bottoms: The Unlikely Mistletoe Dispersers of Madagascar
A study in the rainforests of Madagascar reveals that the primary dispersers of mistletoe are not birds, but two small nocturnal lemurs that help disperse seeds using a technique as eccentric as it is effective.
Travelling Far Does Not Mean Living Long for Moss Spores
A new study shows that moss spore longevity depends strongly on developmental stage and storage conditions, with important consequences for dispersal and establishment.
Building Nature-Friendly Neighbourhoods
A US study compares residential developments, showing how replacing turfgrass with native plants triples insect diversity and conserves water.
Salt, Flowers and Bees
Salt stress did not change pollen or bee visitation, while the number of open flowers remained as the strongest factor to attract bees.
Why does a wound feel like winter?
Cut a leaf and the wound turns cold, and it turns out the plant is reading that chill as an instruction.
The Week in Botany September 21, 2026
This week: Pollinators in the City, Seeds in the Bank, and Speed Dating in the Soil.
Sreetama Bhadra: "Once You Stop Really Seeing Something, You Stop Asking What It Is Doing"
Botany One interviews Dr Sreetama Bhadra, an evolutionary biologist fascinated by how plants duplicate, rearrange and reshape their genomes as they adapt and diversify.
Read this source in the app
Open the app view when you want faster scanning, saved stories, and source-focused reading in one place.