How drought-tolerant grasses came to be
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - 14:30
in Biology & Nature
If you eat bread stuffing or grain-fed turkey this Thanksgiving, give thanks to the grasses a family of plants that includes wheat, oats, corn and rice. Some grasses, such as corn and sugar cane, have evolved a unique way of harvesting energy from the sun that's more efficient in hot, arid conditions. A new grass family tree reveals how this mode of photosynthesis came to be.