botany

These aquatic champions display incredible strength.

The “little apple of death” is the true forbidden fruit.

The ♂and ♀ symbols initially had nothing to do with representing human sex or gender.

The little pinprick spots on apples, pears, and potatoes are called lenticels, and they’re very important.

One vendor’s dispute against a 19th-century import tariff led the U.S. Supreme Court to classify the tomato as a vegetable. But botanists disagree.

Researchers have created a sensor that monitors plant stress, which could one day be a game-changer for anyone with a black thumb.

You may have already heard that tomatoes are a fruit. Here are 10 other vegetables that also fit the botanical bill.

Redwood National Park is home to Hyperion, the world's tallest tree. But you won't find it marked on any maps—and that's for its own good.

“I hope this email finds you well during these unprecedented times.” —A spinach plant in your inbox.

The pumpkins sold around Halloween for carving and decoration aren't the same pumpkins used in pies.

Simon and Garfunkel sang about herbs, not spices—but that’s not the only difference between the two.

The corpse flower smells similar to rotting flesh, dead fish, or Camembert cheese that’s been left out all night.

Impress your botanist friends by knowing that peanuts are really legumes and cashews come from colorful “apples.”

An examination of decades of studies demonstrates that plants don't do much to filter contaminants from the air.

The differences between forests, woods, and jungles aren't exactly an apple trees to orange trees kind of comparison.

Coming in contact with one of them feels like “being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.”

The village of Kåfjord is still feeling the effects of World War II.

The tropical flora could one day be a common sight at higher latitudes.