This plant literally evolved to avoid humans

Some plants evolve pungent flowers to attract pollinators, or sticky traps to attract prey, or poisonous leaves to defend themselves against predators.

But one species of plants have evolved to be invisible to humans, according to a new paper in Current Biology.

When studying the evolution of the plant’s camouflage, the researchers realized that herbivorous animals couldn’t explain why the plant had tried to blend in.

So they considered a different driver of evolution: Humans.

"Many plants seem to use camouflage to hide from herbivores that may eat them – but here we see camouflage evolving in response to human collectors,” coauthor Martin Stevens of the University of Exeter says in a statement.

"It's possible that humans have driven evolution of defensive strategies in other plant species, but surprisingly little research has examined this,” he continues.