Plants change their clocks to flower at the right time

Humanity has a major stake in the reproductive success of
plants, especially of crops such as rice and wheat, which are
important sources of calories and protein in our diets.
Because annual plants have just one opportunity to produce seeds, it is essential that this is timed to coincide with
optimal environmental conditions. To maximize their chances of success, plants have evolved a series of intricate
mechanisms to monitor changes in their environment and
to adjust their development accordingly (1). In a study
published in PNAS, Andrade et al. (2) describe important
advances in our understanding of how plants regulate their
reproduction in response to one critical environmental signal: photoperiod.