What caused this diversification is not known for certain, but it coincides with the rise of the flowering plants, which is suggestive.

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That history reveals patterns, some of which, the domination of terrestrial flora by the flowering plants, for example, are vast in space and time.

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From an initial 3 flowering plants in 2002, the charity said recovery efforts saw it flourish to 74 plants in 2007, with 42 flowering recorded on its last survey in 2008.

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While popular ornamental species continue to bloom in gardens, the flowering plants face a more precarious future in the wild as their native forest habitats are increasingly threatened by human activities, the authors warn.

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The federal project joins efforts by groups such as Project Budburst, which has collected seasonal data from more than 15, 000 volunteers across the country, and an educational project called Journey North, funded by the Annenberg Foundation, which every year mobilizes students in some 6, 000 schools to report sightings of migrating birds, butterflies and flowering plants.

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They sport silver-pink "branches, " made from twisted steel, and are covered with flowering climber plants.

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Mention fennel pollen, the potent granules harvested from the buds of flowering fennel plants, and they may make an exception.

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Then they move the plants to a darker environment to encourage flowering and the formation on the surface of its buds, leaves and stems of trichomes, tiny resin-filled glands resembling sea anemone.

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