plants

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Tom's of Maine Gets Into a Little Trouble With the FDA

Agency found bacteria, mold in a May inspection at a plant in Sanford, Maine

(Newser) - Tom's of Maine has found itself on the wrong side of the Food and Drug Administration. An inspection earlier this year at a plant in Sanford, Maine, surfaced a number of violations. As CNN reports, in a letter dated Nov. 5, the agency says inspectors found the following in...

From One Ancient Seed, a Biblical Plant Has Sprung
From One Ancient
Seed, a Biblical
Plant Has Sprung
NEW STUDY
Oct 8, 2024 12:43 PM CDT

From One Ancient Seed, a Biblical Plant Has Sprung

Scientists say the plant that sprouted may have had a medicinal purpose in long-ago times

(Newser) - A seed unearthed in the '80s in a cave in Israel's Judean Desert has produced a tree that scientists say hails from biblical times—and that could boast medicinal powers mentioned in the Good Book itself.
  • The planting: According to research published last month in the Communications Biology
...

Report: FDA Has Fallen Far Behind in Drug Plant Checks

More than 2K plants are overdue for inspection

(Newser) - Federal regulators responsible for the safety of the US drug supply are still struggling to get back to where they were in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended factory inspections in the US and across the world. An AP analysis of Food and Drug Administration data shows that agency staffers...

Botanists Vote to Change Racist Plant Names

Changing a letter turned racial slur into word indicating plant comes from Africa

(Newser) - In some countries, including South Africa, "kaffir" is a racial slur against Black people that's as offensive as the n-word is in the US. The word, with various spellings, appeared in the scientific names of hundreds of African plants, until scientists voted in favor of a simple change...

Dinosaurs' Extinction May Have Been the Birth of Wine

Plant that gave rise to commercial grapes spread in dense forests after asteroid impact

(Newser) - Had an asteroid not struck the planet some 66 million years ago, dinosaurs might still exist—but there would potentially be no wine. According to researchers, grapes might have originated only after the Chicxulub impact transformed the environment, wiping out 76% of all living species, per IFL Science . "We...

Chimps' Chewing of Medicinal Plants Is No Fluke
Chimpanzee, Heal Thyself
NEW STUDY
Jun 21, 2024 8:38 AM CDT

Chimpanzee, Heal Thyself

Researchers describe evidence of self-medication in Uganda

(Newser) - Sick or wounded chimpanzees can't go to the doctor, per se, but they can and apparently do serve as their own. In a new study, researchers describe the medicinal properties of various plants eaten by poorly chimps in the wild, "providing some of the strongest evidence yet that...

Vermont Botanists Find a Long-Lost Friend

False mermaid-weed hadn't been seen in the state in more than a century

(Newser) - Blink and you'll miss it, in more ways than one. Not only is false mermaid-weed "absolutely tiny"—with flowers the size of a head of a pin—but it surfaces for only about a month in the spring before dying, explains Smithsonian and the Vermont Fish &...

If You Can Have Petunias, Why Not Glow-in-the-Dark Petunias?

Light Bio's bioluminescent firefly petunias shipping out now

(Newser) - It looks like your average petunia— until the light dims . The flower petals, formerly white, suddenly emit a greenish glow, about as bright as the full moon. This, of course, is no ordinary Petunia hybrida, but one genetically modified to exhibit bioluminescence. Developed by Idaho biotechnology firm Light Bio , the...

This Wild Plant Is Keeping Gazans Alive

Khobeza is at least free, though harvesting can be dangerous

(Newser) - In northern Gaza, two pounds of rotten-looking potatoes sell for more than $10. Two pounds of rice sell for $20, up from $2 before the war, NPR reports. Many can't afford to buy food, and some say they've had no access to humanitarian aid. "There's no...

Felled Sycamore Gap Tree Yields Seedlings

That's in addition to 9 genetic copies

(Newser) - Though slashed from its base, the Sycamore Gap tree might still have a future, the BBC reports, as dozens of seeds taken from the tree have now sprouted. A national landmark, the centuries-old sycamore tree stood in a picturesque gap between hills in England's Northumberland National Park before it...

First to Suffer From Asteroid That Doomed Dinos: Plants

Dust particles in atmosphere shut down photosynthesis for 2 years: researchers

(Newser) - It wasn't so much the asteroid impact that killed 75% of the species on Earth some 66 million years ago, but the fact that, for the following two years, little, if anything, could grow. That's according to research offering the first in-depth study of dust particles thrown into...

World's Largest 'Corpse' Flower Is on the Brink
World's Largest
'Corpse' Flower
Is on the Brink
NEW STUDY
Sep 29, 2023 2:00 PM CDT

World's Largest 'Corpse' Flower Is on the Brink

All 42 species in Rafflesia genus can be considered threatened: study

(Newser) - Rafflesia arnoldi is the world's largest single flowering plant, with a bloom more than three feet wide. Dubbed "corpse flower" or "stinking corpse lily," it's also incredibly smelly due to the foul odor—something like rotting flesh—it emits to attract carrion flies for pollination....

Infamous Poison Garden Adds a Truly Nasty Plant

The gympie-gympie reportedly makes those who touch it feel 'electrocuted' and 'on fire'

(Newser) - Saying the United Kingdom's Poison Garden is a unique and intriguing attraction might be underselling it a bit. The garden is exactly what the name states: a place that contains a diverse collection of poisonous plants, and as CBS News reports, it has just acquired a nasty new...

Lowly Moss Is Far More Important Than You Think
Scientists 'Gobsmacked'
About Findings on Moss
in case you missed it
May 14, 2023 4:10 PM CDT

Scientists 'Gobsmacked' About Findings on Moss

Lowly plant is 'potentially as significant' as vascular plants, yet often ignored: study

(Newser) - We've underestimated the power of the lowly moss beneath our feet, which fuels the cycling of nutrients in soil, sucks up carbon, and may even prevent the proliferation of pathogens and "antibiotic resistant genes," according to a new, worldwide study. Considered globally, mosses—under threat from climate...

Genetically Modified Houseplants Are Here

French company makes tweaks to turn plants into more efficient air cleaners

(Newser) - A French biotech company wants to clear the air—literally. Neoplants introduced its genetically-engineered pothos plants late last year, touting the plant's ability to metabolize indoor air pollutants often missed by traditional air purifiers, reports MIT's Technology Review . The pollutants, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are often...

They'll Soon Be Back, and It's Our Job to 'Eliminate' Them
They'll Soon Be Back, and It's
Our Job to 'Eliminate' Them
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 29, 2023 12:55 PM CDT

They'll Soon Be Back, and It's Our Job to 'Eliminate' Them

Spotted lanternflies are due to start hatching soon; experts say we need to 'smash' invasive species

(Newser) - Since 2014, when they apparently made their way from China to the US in a shipping crate, spotted lanternflies have been the bane of farmers, agricultural officials, and plant lovers throughout the Northeast. Now, it's almost time for the eggs of the invasive species to hatch, and experts are...

Largest Water Lily Species Hid in Plain Sight for 2 Centuries
Largest Water Lily
Was Hiding in Plain Sight
NEW STUDY
Jul 6, 2022 7:59 AM CDT

Largest Water Lily Was Hiding in Plain Sight

Study describes the massive Victoria boliviana, kept at a botanical garden in London since 1845

(Newser) - A royal botanical garden is just the place you'd expect to find the world's largest species of water lily. But until recently, officials at London's Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, were unaware that the species previously unknown to science, though well known to the indigenous peoples of the...

This Plant Is as Big as 20K Football Fields
This May Be Earth's
Largest Organism
in case you missed it
Jun 5, 2022 1:30 PM CDT

This May Be Earth's Largest Organism

A single Posidonia australis seagrass covers 77 square miles off western Australia

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered what is arguably the world's largest living organism, which is roughly the size of 20,000 football fields and about 4,500 years old. It's a seagrass known as Poseidon's ribbon weed, or Posidonia australis, which started as a seed spawned from two different...

Stress-Loving Plants May Hold Benefits for Us
Hardy Plant's Lesson: 
It Thrives Under Stress
new study
May 3, 2022 1:55 PM CDT

Hardy Plant's Lesson: It Thrives Under Stress

Researchers tap into its secrets, which could hold value amid climate change

(Newser) - No matter where they grow, most plants have a built-in mechanism that shuts down growth during periods of drought or other harsh conditions. Likewise, most plants will wither and die if those harsh conditions persist. This survival mechanism is controlled by abscisic acid, or ABA, a stress hormone. All land...

This Is the Source of All Weed
This Is the Source of All Weed
NEW STUDY
Jul 20, 2021 11:49 AM CDT

This Is the Source of All Weed

Study suggests cannabis was first grown in northwest China

(Newser) - Humans have been growing cannabis for 12,000 years, according to new research claiming to pinpoint where the first crops were developed. Scientists writing in Science Advances add 82 whole genomes of cannabis plants to the 28 already sequenced, determining the first Cannabis sativa plant was likely domesticated not in...

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