{Reference Type}: Journal Article {Title}: Timing is everything: How plants optimize reproduction in a variable environment. {Author}: Des Marais DL; {Journal}: Cell {Volume}: 187 {Issue}: 14 {Year}: 2024 Jul 11 {Factor}: 66.85 {DOI}: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.05.054 {Abstract}: Organisms experience a constantly changing environment and must adjust their development to maximize fitness. These "life histories" are fantastically diverse and have fascinated biologists for decades. Recent work published in Cell reveals the complex genetic mechanisms that drive life-history variation within and among species in the Brassicaceae plant family.