The smearwort (Aristolochia rotunda) dupes fruit flies into entering its flowers and then traps them there, getting pollinated without offering any reward.

PLANTS
The oldest known trees are thousands of years old. The ancient plants have witnessed the rise and fall of multiple civilizations.
Many plant-based drugs—such as caffeine, cocaine, nicotine and morphine—are all made for the exact same reason: to fight off insects. Why exactly do humans love ingesting insect repellent so much?
Geckos and shrubs and sharks, oh my! 2013 was a big year for new species. Scientists found hundreds of them this year. Here are some of our favorites.
On a cloudy spring day, a little spider scales a tall blade of grass. At the peak, the spider arches up, points its abdomen up to the sky and begins releasing strands of silk from its silk glands. Tens of thousands of strands fill the air, fanning out and
For the first time, scientists have used dried herbarium samples to decode the genome of a plant pathogen and its plant host. The pathogen in question is Phytophthora infestans and its host, the simple potato—a duo responsible for the devastating famine t
Trauma, that’s what. It’s the smell of chemical defenses and first aid. The fresh, “green” scent of a just-mowed lawn is the lawn trying to save itself from the injury you just inflicted.
Long before modern industries developed the cleaning products, industrial solvents, and drugs that can kill when misused, people used simple plants to murder each other.