the cover image illustrates that the seedling sprouted in january 2020 (see the cover of the inaugural issue) has grown into a strong plantlet in january 2022, symbolizing the rapid growth of plant communications over the past two years. various model plants and crops are produced from the plantlet, which is made from basic biomolecules of a living organism (dna, rna, proteins, and metabolites), representing that the journal publishes a wide range of exciting findings in plant sciences, from fundamental research to applied studies. the three intertwined branches imply that plant communications also aims to enhance scientific education, academic exchange, and collegial collaboration for fostering the growth of the global plant science community.