A seed planted in soil that has been churned, tested, and adjusted to provide the tiny embryo what it most needs—water, oxygen, and just the right amount of warmth—is the…
When the first scientist looked at a piece of cork and came up with the name "cell," he had no idea that it would become the foundation of human biology.…
Like a low tide finding new shoals beneath placid seas, something changed beneath the surface of wellness culture when ashwagandha started to show up in smoothie bars and supplement bundles.…
After a fire, a fiddlehead fern's unfurling can represent not only regrowth on a devasted hillside but also a complex interaction between plants and the changing climate. Similar to this,…
Botanists use equipment that silently sync with satellite feeds to monitor patches of undergrowth as they go along winding mountain roads in a remote area of the Balkans. They are…
Certain plants appear to recover as though nothing had occurred. It is not a wonder that a clipped ficus branch can produce roots in a glass of water in a…
Finding health doesn't always require a pharmacist; sometimes it starts with a plant that grows close to your grandmother's window. And that's not sentiment; rather, it's science gradually catching up…
The act of a houseplant reaching for sunshine has a subtly transforming effect. One afternoon, in spite of the dry heat in my flat, my blue star fern unfurled a…
She kept dried plants, amber-colored oils, and a rumpled notebook with penciled instructions such as “three figwort leaves for cuts” or “boil fenugreek for congestion” in a drawer next to…
Researchers are sorting through trays of dried roots, pressed leaves, and bitter bark in a greenhouse that hums softly in a sun-filled clearing outside of Oaxaca. It can appear to…