“Towering talipot palms in a Rio de Janeiro park are flowering for the first and only time in their lives, decades after famed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx introduced them in the 1960s. Towards the end of its life — which can span between 40 and 80 years — the palm tree sends up a central plume crowded with millions of small, creamy-white blossoms that rise high above its fan-shaped leaves. Originating from southern India and Sri Lanka, the talipot palm can reach up to 98 feet in height and produce around 25 million flowers when it blossoms, using energy accumulated over decades. If the flowers are pollinated, they produce fruits that can become seedlings,” reports the Associated Press.
Trees in the Amazon have grown bigger and more robust, due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide.
The introduction of wolves to Yellowstone led to a resurgence in aspen trees.
Plants across the world are absorbing 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought, “according to a new assessment developed by scientists” and discussed in the journal Nature.
A giant stick bug was discovered in Australia earlier this year.
Last month, bed bugs forced the closing of a prestigious Paris cinema. biting audience members.
Most of the world’s forests are expanding. The amount of vegetation on the Earth has increased for each of the last 30 years.
The central Asian country of Uzbekistan is planting a forest of salt-resistant trees and plants in a desert to reduce salt storms.
