Life‐history costs make perfect sprouting maladaptive in two herbaceous perennials

What is it about?

Everyone thinks that plants are green and photosynthesize, but many plants do not. This paper explores how plants evolve away from green-ness, and particularly shows that their own inability to predict the future state of the environment can make photosynthesis a very costly enterprise.

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Why is it important?

This paper is important because it shows why plants stay green, or do not stay green. And since many plants have evolved away from photosynthesis independently, this paper shows a very general evolutionary context for how plants evolve.