Have you ever wondered why a bee, hummingbird or other pollinator would choose to go from flower to flower rather than finishing up all the pollen at one flower? Well, I always assumed they did finish up the pollen in each flower. Turns out I was wrong. Many flower types (specifically the desert tobacco) have a sweet scent and a bitter side (in this case nicotine). Why would a plant choose to attract a pollinator and then scare it off? To diversity the gene pool, of course. Self-pollinators like the desert tobacco don't technically need other flowers to produce seeds, but having them around diversifies the population and ensures larger seedpods which means more flowers.
Don't believe me? Read about it yourself in the 29 August 2008 Science journal.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment