If a plant is to be thoroughly researched, it should yield beautiful flowers, preferably blue. In contrast, neither rare nor threatened species are particularly popular with experts. This is the result of a working group led by Martino Adamo from the University of Turin, based on an analysis of 280 publications from plant research in the southwestern Alps. As the team reports in “Nature Plants”Plants with colored flowers are disproportionately represented compared to green or brown species. This suggests that plant experts are often guided by aesthetic considerations when choosing the topic of their research. This effect is also known in animals.
