http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/many-plants-need-bacterial-roommates-survive-so-why-do-some-kick-them-out

When it comes to getting one of their most critical nutrients, some plants recruit tiny friends: soil bacteria that live in bumps on their roots and harvest nitrogen from the air. A new study reveals that these partners are expensive to keep, however, so much so that some species have given up on these microbial gardeners.

Species from 10 plant families—including peanuts, beans, and mimosa trees (pictured)—all thrive in poor soils because they partner with so-called nitrogen-fixing bacteria. But plant biologists have long puzzled over why the other 18 families in this kingdom, and even some species within those 10, haven’t also evolved this beneficial trait.