Category
Botany
Explore the 4 entries currently assigned to this category. These counts describe this curated catalogue, not the size or rate of change of the field itself.
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Not a fact anymore
Fibonacci leaf spirals were an ancient pattern inherited from the earliest leafy land plants.
What we know now
Fibonacci phyllotaxis was not universal among the earliest leafy plants. A 407-million-year-old lycophyte had only non-Fibonacci spirals in the reconstructed shoots, supporting later and probably independent evolution of Fibonacci-dominated patterns in major plant lineages.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Botany
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 2023
Not a fact anymore
Legume plants enrich soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen on their own.
What we know now
Legumes such as peas, beans, and clover usually obtain usable nitrogen through a partnership with bacteria called rhizobia. The bacteria live in specialized root nodules and convert nitrogen gas from the air into chemical forms the plant can use; the plant supplies them with energy and shelter.
- Status
- Corrected
- Category
- Botany
- Accepted for
- ≈75 years
- Changed approximately
- 1880s–1890s
Not a fact anymore
Most of a growing plant's dry mass comes from material absorbed from the soil.
What we know now
Most plant dry mass is carbon fixed from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Soil supplies water and essential mineral nutrients, but usually contributes only a small fraction of the dry matter added during growth.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Botany
- Accepted for
- ≈2,154 years
- Changed approximately
- Late 18th–19th centuries
Not a fact anymore
Plants were not understood to require a male reproductive contribution analogous to animal fertilization.
What we know now
Plants reproduce sexually as well as asexually. In seed plants, pollen carries the male reproductive cells, and fertilization occurs when sperm ultimately reaches the egg in an ovule, producing an embryo.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Botany
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 1694 and the early 18th century
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