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The social dynamics of plants are as complex as those at any high school. By studying how plants interact — one-on-one, as a population, and in their communities — ecologists can figure out how to conserve our photosynthetic friends. In this episode of Crash Course ...

Humans love to play with their food—in fact, we’ve been doing it for thousands of years. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we explore how we’ve learned to manipulate plant genetics, from breeding tastier fruits and veggies to directly editing plant genes that help ...

All of the different plants on Earth—from mango trees to marigolds—have come about thanks to the simple rules of genetic inheritance, which determine how traits are passed on from one generation to the next. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore the remarkable ...

You couldn’t go a day without interacting with gymnosperms and angiosperms, the two most prominent groups of plants on the planet. We rely on them for food, clothing, and shelter — but why are they so common? In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll ...

Forget your favorite flowers, because we’re talking all about the mean green sporing machines. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we dive into the first few branches of plants’ phylogenetic tree—bryophytes and seedless vascular plants, like mosses and ferns. These plants are the unsung ...

Humans make stuff up—including the names and classifications of living things. But those categories are still useful. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore how taxonomy and systematics help us understand what plants are and where they come from. We’ll discuss the power ...

“You shouldn’t make decisions when you’re hungry.” Tell that to the cell that ate a bacterium 1.5 billion years ago and set in motion the evolution of all plants on Earth. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore how plants came to exist, ...

Plants and trees may seem pretty passive, but behind the scenes, their cells are working hard to put on a magic show. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore how the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration work, why they’re so critical for ...

Plants—they’re just like us! Well, not exactly, but they do have skin and hair like us…even if they also have creepy little alien mouths. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’re getting up close and personal with plants’ anatomy by diving right into plant ...