Our mornings have been a little cool. The school buses are on the road. The leaves are falling from the trees. It must be October. Nope, check the date. It is still August; so, what is going on here?

Steve Nix is a member of the Society of American Foresters and a former forest resources analyst for the state of Alabama. Defining the characteristics of individual leaves is part of tree morphology, ...

Wherever trees grow, sooner or later their leaves get wet. For trees in wet environments, this can be a problem if films of water cover their stomata. These tiny pores allow carbon dioxide to enter ...

Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience. Not all trees drop their leaves in the fall. Even in the height of winter ...

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 ...