Mental Floss

PLANTS





We live among ancient trees that are thousands of years old.

The oldest known trees are thousands of years old. The ancient plants have witnessed the rise and fall of multiple civilizations.

Haley Sweetland Edwards


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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?

William Herkewitz


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Some of the most influential people who ever lived have had a fascination with Dionaea muscipula. Here are 11 facts guaranteed to inspire one of your own.

Mark Mancini


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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

Matt Soniak






Marco Thines/Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung

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

Maureen Monahan
inga/iStock via Getty Images

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.

Matt Soniak