Scientists Discover Plant That Fools Birds With Fake Berries

Scientists Discover Plant That Fools Birds With Fake Berries

D. melanophyma bulbils mimic berries. Credit: Zhi Chen / CC BY 4.0 Scientists have discovered a climbing plant that tricks birds into helping it spread by producing structures that look like real berries. The plant, Dioscorea melanophyma, creates small, dark, shiny growths that closely resemble fruit. However, these are not true berries. They are bulbils, a type of structure used for asexual reproduction. The findings were published recently in …