What do botanists’ favorite plants look like?

Plants with blue flowers are more likely to attract the attention of botanists.

An analysis of research conducted over the past 45 years shows that botanists are more likely to study plants that grow taller and more attractive.

Martino Adamo of the University of Turin, Italy, and colleagues analyzed 280 scientific papers published between 1975 and 2020.

Using statistical models, they found that the appearance of plants—color, flower size, and stem height—is the most important factor explaining the research interest of botanists, surpassing ecological importance, rarity, and abundance.

Plants with blue flowers have received the most attention.

"Looking at our model, plants higher than the average height of their habitat are also more likely to be studied," Adamo said.

"From our model, plants that are higher than the average height of plants in the habitat are also more likely to be studied.

Diego Fontaneto of the National Research Council of Italy said that this may bring bias to botany research, because researchers are more inclined to study a certain plant.

Adamo and his team hope to use these findings to provide references for better policies and conservation efforts to avoid ignoring specific plants in the Alps.

Related paper information: https://doi.