The animal kingdom may have its egg-laying platypus, but the plant kingdom is not without its own odd twists on taxonomy. If movies like Little Shop of Horrors are any indication, carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap, sundew, and pitcher plant never fail to spark the imagination. The following set of Web sites presents a brief introduction to carnivorous plants and includes loads of great...

This article about plant growth beneath sea ice by Anne-Maree Shwarz appears in Water and Atmosphere online, a quarterly publication of the New Zealand-based National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Shwarz's "article describes some of the linkages between ice-cover, underwater light and primary production that have been investigated" by ICECUBE, a NIWA research program working...

This online "open" book was edited by world renowned experts Peter H. Raven and Tania Williams and was produced in 2000 by the Committee for the Second Forum on Biodiversity (National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council). Available for browsing only, the document spans nine chapters -- from "Defining Biodiversity" to "Examples of Sustainability."

Devoted to informing readers about biological and cultural diversity, this free online magazine presents articles and images from around the world. The emphasis in OneWorld's approach to environmental issues is on how individuals and small foundations can effect change. Throughout, the graphics are lush and well chosen, and the articles are arranged logically for easy reading.

This week's In The News focuses on the evolutionary link between beetle (Coleoptera) and flowering plant (Angiosperm) diversity. In an article published in the July 24, 1998 issue of Science, Harvard University evolutionary entomologist Brian Farrell shed new light on insect-plant evolution when he revealed "a tight link between plant and beetle diversity." Farrell found that the incredible...

The Wisconsin Fast Plants Program was designed to build open education resources and professional learning communities that inspire and support its stated mission: "working with educators and scientists in support of conceptual understanding through science teaching, learning, and research." It's an ambitious goal and this site provides users with a range of information from how to grow fast...