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Plant biology

The flower of seduction

Hundreds of orchid species lure their pollinators with the promise of sex, only to send them away unfulfilled. Heidi Ledford looks at how dishonesty gives them the evolutionary edge.

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Inbreeding is bad for plants too

One place, one parent, two species

Bees say it with flowers

Related external links

Florian Schiestl's webpage

Rod Peakall's sexually deceptive orchid page

Pacific Orchid Exposition

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Ledford, H. The flower of seduction. Nature 445, 816–817 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/445816a

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  1. Dear Heidi Ledford,

    I genuinely enjoy your articles, but please correct your last one: https://www.nature.com/arti.... RNAi was not "first discovered" in worms. ie: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...
    The authors of your reference were awarded a Nobel Prize, but they did not "first discover RNAi".
    Thanks,
    Fernando.

    PS: Sorry to write here, but did not know how to reach you.

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