Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas in the Cuttings’ household without Brussels sprouts (which are traditionally eaten – usually reluctantly – on the 25th of December in the UK – but nobody I know knows why…). Sadly, I couldn’t find a festive sprout-related item. But I have one about the next best thing: broccoli.  Why is broccoli [...]

The palm tribe Chamaedoreeae displays flowers arranged in a complex partial inflorescence called an acervulus. Ortega-Chávez and Stauffer examine ontogeny in Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and show that the acervulus and the inflorescence rachilla form a condensed and cymose branching system resembling a coenosome. Syndesmy results from a combined process of rapid development and adnation, without or [...]