For short-lived spring wildflowers such as wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia) and Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), timing is everything. These fleeting plants, known as ephemerals, grow in ...

A leaf may appear to be one of the simplest structures in nature, thin, delicate and easily overlooked. At first glance, it seems far removed from the complex systems that scientists usually describe ...