New paper out on how polar lipids protect plant xylem against cavitation. Based on molecular dynamics simulations of hydrophobic interfaces under negative pressure. Plant biologists check it out!

doi.org/10.1016/j.jc...

At the ccolorful No Kings rally in Pasadena
#NoKingsPasadenaCA

For a presentation on plant water transport, I managed for the first time to get images out of ChatGPT that looked like what I wanted. Either AI is getting better, or I am.

"What plants do for us and for the climate" Public outreach projects of students in my Global Change Biology class at the Arboretum and Botanic Garden at Cal State Fullerton. I am so proud of them all!

My tribute to Kris Kristofferson. His 1970 debut album had Me an Bobby McGee, Sunday Morning Coming Down, For the Good Times, Help Me Make It Through The Night, Best of All Possible Worlds, To Beat the Devil, and many other truly great songs.

Victoria regia 'Longwood hybrid' in the greenhouse complex at Cal State Fullerton. Our greenhouse manager Ed Read is now the master of growing both Amorphophallus and Victoria. What's next? #plantjoy

Root pressure? Time to rethink that, at least for bamboos:

Positive pressure in bamboo is generated in stems and rhizomes, not in roots.
Joseph M Michaud, Kerri Mocko, and H. Jochen Schenk. AoB PLANTS, Volume 16, Issue 4, July 2024, plae040 doi.org/10.1093/aobp...

Here is a visual celebration of my last field botany class and all the students in it. Thanks to all! #PlantJoy

Special issue of Tree Physiology on the gas phase in plants: Submission deadline extended to 15 May 2024.
academic.oup.com/treephys/pag...

Anza Borrego is famous for its carpets of wildflowers, but my favorite is this plucky little monkeyflower, Diplacus bigelovii. Its flower is often larger than the entire rest of the plant. #PlantJoy