To get by in the waterlogged, low-nutrient soil of the Quebrada Chorro forest in western Panama, a species of tree fern repurposes its dead fronds, turning them into roots. The discovery “was ...

When dry weather hits, resurrection fern shrivels up to reduce its surface area and goes dormant. Special proteins called ...

In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists found the first known plant species to transform decaying tissue into a new source of nutrients. By Douglas Main In the rainforests of western Panama, the ...

Land plants evolved 470 million years ago from algae and have since reshaped our world. Throughout their evolution, ferns have undergone a series of changes that have helped them survive on land. For ...

Probably the first pioneer plants to arrive in Hawaii were mosses and ferns. Ferns have been around for over 360 million years. Giant tree fern forests were common for millions of years but they gave ...

Kingsley Dixon's trip abroad could have been perfect. After all, the acclaimed Australian botanist won the "plant Olympics" with a gold for his rare orchid at the Chelsea Flower Show in England. But a ...

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign plant biology professor James Dalling and his colleagues discovered that some tree ferns recycle their dead fronds into roots. The researchers call these ...

Ferns are weird. They're green and leafy like other forest plants, but they reproduce more like mushrooms do—by releasing clouds of spores. Many species don't require a partner for fertilization, ...

If you want to get a sense of what life was like during the Carboniferous period some 300 million years ago, visit the Kona Cloud Forest above Kailua. The area abounds with ferns that once were ...

An outstanding problem in Hawai’i is invasive species of tree ferns that can outcompete native species, with unknown but potentially large consequences on ecosystem function. My research project ...

For the first time, researchers have characterized the genome arrangement of tree ferns, which sheds new insight into how ferns evolved. Land plants evolved 470 million years ago from algae and have ...