Friday Flower 001: Mimulus lewisii 🌸✨

Monkeyflowers are masterpieces of design with nectar-guide spots formed by an activator–inhibitor system of MYB transcription factors. These generate reaction–diffusion patterns across the ventral petal.

I’m proud to present the main work from my postdoc, 3+ years in making from scratch, my ultimate #MimulusPropaganda up till now:

The Moment
That
Symmetry
Breaks.

#plantscience #development #imaging #microscopy 🧪🌸🔬
w. Captain Yaowu & @biancatash.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New research from CSHL’s Zach Lippman, David McCandlish, and collaborators uncovers cryptic mutations—hidden genetic changes that only show up under certain conditions and shape plant traits. Understanding these could lead to better crops and better medicines. www.cshl.edu/branching-ou...

Hot off the presses and so so thrilled. Thanks to @inaturalist.bsky.social + computer vision we found something beautifully simple: Red and orange flowers bloom later than all the other colors in the eastern United States. Paper here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kwzh3QW8S...

Awesome new paper by @lucalivraghi.bsky.social et al.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
in @currentbiology.bsky.social
on the evo-devo of a butterfly color variation

enjoy the show!

It’s 🌿International Plant Appreciation Day🌿, so here’s a Corydalis melanochlora from the Hengduan Mountains. I can’t stop praising my favorite alpine flora 🥰
#LetsGoPlants #IamaBotanist

The #Botany2025 Abstract Submission Deadline is in 1 WEEK!

It’s time to put the finishing touches on your research and submit your abstract for Botany 2025—Botany without Barriers, taking place in Palm Springs, CA.

Get your abstract in before the deadline!
www.botanyconference.org

#IamaBotanist

Working on nectaries or plant-pollinator interactions? Join us for this year's Harvard Plant Biology Initiative Symposium on 'Plant Rewards' on May6/7. We have an awesome lineup of speakers with free registration. We are also offering two ECR travel grants (due April 14): forms.gle/jhTnv8pbuBxX...

|On either side of the disjunction|

1-2: Symplocarpus renifolius
2024.4, Jilin, NE Asia

3-4: Symplocarpus foetidus
2025.3, CT, NE America

🥰