5 plants with thorns and spines to avoid in family gardens . Regardless of where you live or your US hardiness zone, there are many thousands of trees, shrubs and perennials to choose from.

The “prickles,” as botanists call them, evolved in roses and other plants thanks to a single gene, a new study found. ... There is no rose without thorns, the old saying goes.

To find the gene responsible for thorns, scientists investigated plants in the Solanum genus. These plants, known as nightshades, encompass more than 1,500 species and include common culinary ...

A new study has found how a rose and other plants like a tomato and eggplant came to get their prickles. The discovery could help engineer new thorn-free variants.

As an avid gardener will tell you, plants with sharp thorns and prickles can leave you looking like you’ve had a run-in with an angry cat. Wouldn’t it be nice to rid plants of their prickles ...