Alpine rock cress uses a ribonucleic acid to measure its age
and tell when it’s the right time to flower
Perennial plants flower only when they have reached a
certain age and been subjected to the cold. These two circumstances prevent the
plant from starting to flower during winter. George Coupland and his fellow
scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne
have now discovered that the Alpine rock cress determines its age based on the
quantity of a short ribonucleic acid.