Lindsay Trottier, McGill University in Canada, discusses her article: Extending the leaf economics spectrum: Freshwater plant communities exhibit realm-specific leaf adaptations If I asked you to think of a plant, what image comes to mind? A rose? A pine tree? Maybe a grass? If you’re like the majority of people, odds are you didn’t imagine…
Curtis Lubbe, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, discusses their article: Trade-offs and bet-hedging in clonal offspring allocation What about clones? Most angiosperms reproduce clonally in addition to the production of seeds. That is, they form new units of their bodies (rooting units, or ramets): vegetative clonal reproduction, using rhizomes (horizontal belowground stems)…
Johan Ehrlén tell us the story behind the cover image for our December issue: This photo, taken in southern Sweden early May, shows inflorescences of Lathyrus vernus. Flowers at the bottom of the inflorescences have already started to wilt and changed colour from purple to light blue, while the uppermost flowers have just opened. This…
The cover image for our October issue shows the first part of an automated process to extract leaf area from herbarium images. Here the model’s predictions of leaves are on the pressed plant specimen of Corymbia gilbertensis. The image relates to the Editor’s Choice article ‘Using machine learning to link climate, phylogeny and leaf area in eucalypts through…
The cover image for our April issue shows insect herbivores feeding on a ragweed plant. The image relates to the article ‘Foliar herbivory-enhanced mycorrhization is associated with increased levels of lipids in root and root exudates’, by Zhenlong Xing et al. Here, Zhenlong tells us the story behind the image: Insect herbivores, terrestrial plants, and…
The cover image for our June issue shows a ‘deeper look’ into species-rich mountain grassland in the Krkonoše Mountains, Czech Republic. This image relates to the article ‘Plant–soil feedbacks in a diverse grassland: Soil remembers, but not too much‘, by Eliška Kuťáková et al. Here, Eliška tells us the story behind the image: Being a plant ecologist,…
The cover image for our May issue shows fruiting bodies of the fungus Microporus xanthopus sprout from a dead log in the Daintree rainforest of Queensland, Australia. This image relates to the article ‘Wood traits explain microbial but not termite-driven decay in Australian tropical rainforest and savanna‘ by Stephanie Law et al. Here, co-author Steven Allison tells us…
The cover image for our April issue shows dried, freshly senesced leaves and foliated twigs of different gymnosperm and angiosperm species, demonstrating the size and shape of leaf litter particles. This image relates to the article ‘Experimental evidence that leaf litter decomposability and flammability are decoupled across gymnosperm species‘ by Shudong Zhang et al. Here, Shudong tells us…
The cover image for our March issue shows twin seedlings of mistletoe (Viscum album) established on a branch of apple (Malus domestica), the parasite’s most frequent British host. This image relates to the Biological Flora of Britain and Ireland: Viscum album, by Peter Thomas et al. Here, co-author Jonathan Briggs tells us the story behind the image: The germination…
The cover image for our February issue shows a digitized herbarium specimen of flowering yellow trout lily plants (Erythronium americanum). This image relates to the article, Warmer temperatures are linked to widespread phenological mismatch among native and non-native forest plants, by Tara Miller et al., which is part of a special feature on Leveraging natural history collections to understand…
