Category: Plant Stress
The “Anthropocene” – What Will Be Its Most Profound Effect On Plants?
“Extremophytes” – Plants With Weird and Fascinating Properties
Plant “Extremophiles”? Recently, I was reading about a new species of metal-eating plant discovered in the Philippines, and I discovered a new word (to me, at least). This new word is “extremophyte“. Simply put, most extremophytes are plants evolutionarily adapted to thrive in highly stressful environments. Physically stressful, that is,…
Extreme “Chilling Out” – Some Plants May Survive Thousands of Years “On Ice”
Zombie Moss? In the year 450 A.D., Attila the Hun was invading Europe, the last of the Roman empire was crumbling (including the abandonment of Londinium), the Aztec civilization in Mexico was just beginning, and a little moss plant (a bryophyte) was growing on Signy, a small subantarctic island. Now…
How Trees Survive Extreme Cold (Or Not)
How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not) – Part 3: How Will Crop Plants Become More Salt Tolerant?
The Increasing Need for More Salt-Tolerant Crop Plants The salinization of soils is a very serious agricultural problem. Because saline soils can adversely affect the establishment, growth, and development of crop plants, leading to huge losses in yield, the significance of soil salinity in reducing agricultural productivity is enormous. Unfortunately,…
How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not) – Part 2: Halophytes
Yes, You Can Water Some Plants With Seawater Although salty water and saline environments are usually harmful to most plants, why should anybody care about salt stress on plants? Here’s a good answer to that question: “Ubiquitously, no toxic substance restricts plant growth more than does salt. Salt stress presents…
How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not)
Why Not Irrigate Plants With Seawater? A recent report about how salt stops plant growth got me wondering about what’s the latest news regarding plant salt tolerance. But first, let’s see why watering most plants (including all the major crop plants) with seawater would be harmful, and likely be lethal.…
Hot Plants – How Will Plants Cope with Heat Stress Caused by Global “Weirding”?
Are plants likely to be more heat stressed in the future? The levels of the so-called “greenhouse gases” – carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) – are increasing in Earth’s atmosphere. This, most climate scientists agree, is resulting in global warming. (Though I prefer the term “global weirding”.) Among the…
“Talking” Plants: Airborne Chemical Signals (Part 3)
How a parasitic plant may “sniff out” its victims. As on the internet, once information is broadcast, even if only among ‘friends’, it becomes available for other unintended and unexpected uses. Dodder (genus Cuscuta) is a parasitic plant on other plants. But how does this plant find its host? Apparently,…
The “Anthropocene” – What Will Be Its Most Profound Effect On Plants?
“Extremophytes” – Plants With Weird and Fascinating Properties

Plant “Extremophiles”? Recently, I was reading about a new species of metal-eating plant discovered in the Philippines, and I discovered a new word (to me, at least). This new word is “extremophyte“. Simply put, most extremophytes are plants evolutionarily adapted to thrive in highly stressful environments. Physically stressful, that is,…
Extreme “Chilling Out” – Some Plants May Survive Thousands of Years “On Ice”

Zombie Moss? In the year 450 A.D., Attila the Hun was invading Europe, the last of the Roman empire was crumbling (including the abandonment of Londinium), the Aztec civilization in Mexico was just beginning, and a little moss plant (a bryophyte) was growing on Signy, a small subantarctic island. Now…
How Trees Survive Extreme Cold (Or Not)
How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not) – Part 3: How Will Crop Plants Become More Salt Tolerant?

The Increasing Need for More Salt-Tolerant Crop Plants The salinization of soils is a very serious agricultural problem. Because saline soils can adversely affect the establishment, growth, and development of crop plants, leading to huge losses in yield, the significance of soil salinity in reducing agricultural productivity is enormous. Unfortunately,…
How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not) – Part 2: Halophytes

Yes, You Can Water Some Plants With Seawater Although salty water and saline environments are usually harmful to most plants, why should anybody care about salt stress on plants? Here’s a good answer to that question: “Ubiquitously, no toxic substance restricts plant growth more than does salt. Salt stress presents…
How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not)

Why Not Irrigate Plants With Seawater? A recent report about how salt stops plant growth got me wondering about what’s the latest news regarding plant salt tolerance. But first, let’s see why watering most plants (including all the major crop plants) with seawater would be harmful, and likely be lethal.…
Hot Plants – How Will Plants Cope with Heat Stress Caused by Global “Weirding”?

Are plants likely to be more heat stressed in the future? The levels of the so-called “greenhouse gases” – carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) – are increasing in Earth’s atmosphere. This, most climate scientists agree, is resulting in global warming. (Though I prefer the term “global weirding”.) Among the…
“Talking” Plants: Airborne Chemical Signals (Part 3)

How a parasitic plant may “sniff out” its victims. As on the internet, once information is broadcast, even if only among ‘friends’, it becomes available for other unintended and unexpected uses. Dodder (genus Cuscuta) is a parasitic plant on other plants. But how does this plant find its host? Apparently,…