
EvolutionMarch 17, 2026
How the corpse flower came to be so weird
Evolutionary studies make sense of the world’s strangest plant
Jacob S. Suissa is a plant evolutionary biologist at the University of Tennessee. He studies the evolution of plant form and development across deep time.

How the corpse flower came to be so weird
Evolutionary studies make sense of the world’s strangest plant

Ferns’ ‘Backward’ Evolution Reveals Life’s Meandering Path
Evolution is often depicted as a steady forward march from simple to complex forms. But new research shows that certain ferns can evolve “backward”