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Chinese Flower Evolves To Turn Invisible and Escape Humans
interestingengineering.com

Chinese Flower Evolves To Turn Invisible and Escape Humans

A paper published in the journal Current Biology shows a curious occurrence of natural selection in a Chinese plant driven by humans. Get the details here.

Science & Tech

A perennial herb called Fritillaria delavayi adorns China's rocky Hengduan mountains with colors varying from grey to brown to green and produces a precious bright yellow flower after completing its fifth year.

However, like many other species, it has been going through the onslaught of humans who harvest it to make traditional Chinese medicine. For more than 2,000 years, the bulb of the fritillary species has been used to treat ailments of the lungs with high prices in recent years leading to an increase in harvesting.

Now, a paper published in the journal Current Biology shows an unusual occurrence of natural selection of this species due to humans: As commercial harvesting has intensified, Fritillaria delavayi has become almost invisible in order to survive.