What are invasive plants?
When do plants get invasive? Plants that do not occur naturally in a region but proliferate in the area they have been introduced into, and cause several negative impacts (such…
Parthenium could take over large parts of India under current climate change
At first glance, a one-metre tall parthenium plant looks innocuous. Its tiny cream flowers, borne on several frail, pale green stalks, dance in the wind. However, packed in each mature…
When and from where did black pepper come to India?
A new study has, for the first time, thrown light on when and from where black pepper (Piper nigrum) had come to India. The species arrived into India from Southeast…
What is seagrass?
What is seagrass? Seagrasses are marine flowering plants, found on all continents except Antarctica. They have roots, stems and leaves and produce flowers and fruits. They are closely related to…
Female seagrass flowers uncoil to reach pollen in undersea saga
For the underwater-dwelling tape grass Enhalus acoroides, pollination is an adventure where female flowers have their work cut out. The pinkish-green male flowers produce plenty of pollen, encased in long…
[Photos] City dwellers…now you see me?
The shade of a tree gives a much-needed respite from the sweltering heat. While checking messages on the phone, you see a movement out of the corner of your eye.…
Scientists seek help from wheat’s wild cousins to sustain high yields
In the year 2014, when Jammu and Kashmir was facing one of its worst floods, a group of researchers from the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) and Punjab…
Citizen science project records shoots and leaves to understand climate change
A school teacher in Meghalaya spent the last four days of his holidays travelling around 30 villages looking at trees. Resly Roy Pariong was scanning trees in backyards, gardens and…
Assam’s rhino habitat overtaken by invasives
On a gloomy afternoon in May 2018, conservation biologist Bibhab Talukdar was visiting Pobitora National Park in Assam. As he rode an elephant into the grasslands at the core of…
A women’s squad in Odisha defends its forest for 20 years
For close to 20 years after a supercyclone ravaged Odisha, a group of women along the coast has been standing sentinel over their beloved storm-shielding forest and mangrove cover. Deftly…
