tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/flowers-7413/articlesFlowers – The Conversation2024-03-28T12:21:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265412024-03-28T12:21:15Z2024-03-28T12:21:15ZEarly spring brings a ‘hungry gap’ for bees – here’s how you can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584795/original/file-20240327-20-lqgl8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4430%2C2951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flight-flying-bumblebee-spring-on-fruit-1390687526">Daniel Pahmeier/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wild bees pollinate the crops and wild plants that feed us and sustain entire ecosystems, but many of the world’s 20,000 bee species are in decline. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ee/article/50/3/732/6119323">Loss of habitat</a> is chiefly to blame, especially the loss of plants that provide pollen and nectar for bees to feed themselves and their brood (their eggs, larvae and pupae).</p>
<p>Falling numbers of bees and other insect pollinators have prompted governments to respond. In the UK, Europe and US, “pollinator planting” initiatives have taken root, yet species continue to decline. At least part of the problem seems to be that these schemes, which offer guidance to farmers, gardeners and landowners, recommend planting flowers to feed bees that start blooming much too late.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/icad.12736">a new study</a>, we modelled the quantity of food available to bees in a computer simulation of a real farm. We found that the plant species recommended for pollinator planting in national initiatives tend to flower up to a month too late for the bees that emerge in the early spring – that’s right now, in March and April. </p>
<p>This “hungry gap” means fewer bee colonies survive to the end of the summer and not enough new queens are produced for the following year. The good news is that expanding these schemes to include plants that bloom very early in the spring could throw a lifeline to struggling bees. </p>
<h2>Why is the early spring so important?</h2>
<p>We wanted to find out when, during a typical season, limited food most threatens the fitness of bumblebees and which plant species are most helpful for remedying this. Our computer model simulations included multiple colonies of the buff-tailed bumblebee (<em>Bombus terrestris</em>) and the common carder bee (<em>Bombus pascuorum</em>), two UK species which emerge in spring. </p>
<p>The computer model simulates the life cycle of bumblebees. In it, digital bees explore a realistic landscape, collecting nectar and pollen, forming colonies and caring for their brood. At the end of a season, males and daughter queens are produced, and over a number of years the population may prosper or decline.</p>
<p>The landscape of a real farm was digitised to make the simulation, and the different areas (hedgerows, meadows, paddocks) marked in a digital map. We could adjust the variety of flowering plants in these areas for different test runs.</p>
<p>Adding plant species to the model that flower between March and April, like ground ivy, red dead-nettle, maple, cherry, hawthorn or willow, improved the survival rate of these bee populations from 35% to 100% over ten years. This meant that all colonies of both species survived each year a decade after these early flowering plants had been introduced.</p>
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<img alt="Fuzzy yellow catkins on slender branches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584797/original/file-20240327-30-tgwz47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Willow tends to flower early in the season when we rarely see many bees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/willow-salix-caprea-branch-coats-fluffy-2244717269">Irina Boldina/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>These plants can fit into existing hedgerows without reducing the area used for crop production, ensuring farmers can continue to grow food and make a living while nourishing pollinators.</p>
<p>We were surprised to find that the bee colony’s demand for nectar and pollen at the start of the spring was driven mainly by the number of larvae rather than the number of adult workers. But if we look at the life cycle of a typical social bee colony, this finding makes sense. </p>
<p>In the spring, a queen emerges from hibernation, finds a suitable nest site, collects nectar and pollen and raises a first generation of brood. This founding stage of the colony is followed by the social phase, when enough pupae have matured into adult workers that they can take over foraging and brood care for the colony. The founding stage can last several weeks, and during this time, there are very few adult bees foraging to meet the needs of a large number of brood. This explains why, for our spring-emerging species, we observed high food demand in March and April, before we normally see large numbers of adult worker bees foraging outside the colony.</p>
<h2>Filling the hungry gap</h2>
<p>Some bee species emerge in the early spring and some emerge later; in the northern hemisphere, a species can emerge any time between March and July. Across <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1062-4">Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1115559108">North America</a> there are plenty of early-spring bees which appear at the beginning of this range. In fact, somewhere between a third and a quarter of bee species in temperate regions may appear around the start of spring.</p>
<p>But government guidance in the UK and the EU misses this critical March-April hungry gap. EU guidance is to allow wild plants to flower during the summer, when most pollinators are on the wing, by cutting grass or grazing in early spring and autumn. In the US, land managers are encouraged (depending on the state) to plant a minimum of three species that bloom between April and June 15. These recommendations overlook the need for early spring forage. </p>
<p>Our critical finding is that bees need flowers for food up to a month before we even see the adults flying around. If different species of bee are active from April through October, then we need flowers blooming from March onward. </p>
<p>Providing flowers across the whole season, with an emphasis on early spring flowers, would make pro-pollinator schemes more effective. To supplement the <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/">“No Mow May”</a> campaign, we need a “plant early spring flowers” drive. Or even better: make sure you have flowers blooming every month from March through October.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthias Becher works for RIFCON GmbH, Germany. He received funding from UKRI NERC for supporting the development of BEESTEWARD (project NE/P016731/1).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tonya Lander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Check that something is blooming every week, March through October, to help bees.Tonya Lander, Stipendiary Lecturer in Biology, University of OxfordMatthias Becher, Affiliate, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2151272024-02-13T13:20:14Z2024-02-13T13:20:14ZFlowers grown floating on polluted waterways can help clean up nutrient runoff and turn a profit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573604/original/file-20240205-30-14awa7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6173%2C4087&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cut flowers could pay for themselves and even turn a profit.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Margi Rentis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Flowers grown on inexpensive floating platforms can help clean polluted waterways, over 12 weeks extracting 52% more phosphorus and 36% more nitrogen than the natural nitrogen cycle removes from untreated water, according to our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2023.100405">new research</a>. In addition to filtering water, the cut flowers can generate income via the <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=106472">multibillion-dollar floral market</a>. </p>
<p>In our trials of various flowers, giant marigolds stood out as the most successful, producing long, marketable stems and large blooms. Their yield matched typical <a href="https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1662131594449">flower farm production</a>.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.epa.gov/nps/basic-information-about-nonpoint-source-nps-pollution">Water pollution</a> is caused in large part by runoff from farms, urban lawns and even septic tanks. When it rains, excess phosphorus, nitrogen and other chemicals wash into lakes and rivers.</p>
<p>These nutrients feed algae, leading to widespread and harmful algae blooms, which can severely lower oxygen in water, creating “<a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/goal-14/">dead zones</a>” where aquatic life cannot survive. Nutrient runoff is a critical issue as urban areas expand, affecting the health of water ecosystems. </p>
<p>Water pollution is an escalating crisis in our area of Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida. The <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b5d43852c8984a4c8db4d077ec04bd35">2020 Biscayne Bay fish kill</a>, the largest mass death of aquatic life on record for the region, serves as a stark reminder of this growing environmental issue.</p>
<h2>How we do our work</h2>
<p>We study <a href="https://case.fiu.edu/earth-environment/agroecology/">sustainable agriculture</a> and <a href="https://crestcache.fiu.edu/">water pollution</a> in South Florida.</p>
<p>Inspired by traditional floating farm practices, including the Aztecs’ <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221009-the-return-of-aztec-floating-farms">chinampas in Mexico</a> and the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/the-secret-islands-of-the-everglades-lncj6r/">Miccosukees’ tree island settlements in Florida</a>, we tested the idea of growing cut flowers on floating rafts as a way to remove excess nutrients from waterways. Our hope was not only that the flowers would pay for themselves, but that they could provide jobs here in Miami, the center of the U.S. cut-flower trade.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An outdoor tank contains a large floating perforated mat. Each hole contains a young plant." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573507/original/file-20240205-23-zkmaeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Chemical conditions in the test tanks were the same as in nearby polluted waterways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jazmin Locke-Rodriguez</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>We floated 4-by-6-foot (1.2-by-1.8-meter) mats of inexpensive polyethylene foam called <a href="http://www.beemats.com/">Beemats</a> in 620-gallon (2,300-liter) outdoor test tanks that mirrored water conditions of nearby polluted waterways. Into the mats we transplanted flower seedlings, including zinnias, sunflowers and giant marigolds. The polluted tank water was rich in nutrients, eliminating the need for any fertilizer. As the seedlings matured into plants over 12 weeks, we tracked the tanks’ improving water quality. </p>
<p>Encouraged by the success of the marigolds in our tanks, we moved our trials to the nearby canals of Coral Gables and Little River. We anchored the floating platforms with 50-pound (22.7-kilograms) weights and also tied them to shore for extra stability. No alterations to the landscape were needed, making the process simple and doable.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Closeup photo of base of a marigold plant showing a tangle of visible roots." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573517/original/file-20240205-15-ot28qz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Some plants grow roots in places – such as the stem – other than where their original roots began.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jazmin Locke-Rodriguez</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>The success of the giant marigolds might be linked to the extra roots that grow from their stems known as <a href="https://propg.ifas.ufl.edu/05-cuttings/01-terminology/01-cuttingterms-adventitiousroot.html">adventitious roots</a>. These roots likely help keep the plants stable on the floating platforms. Identifying additional plants with roots like these could help broaden plant choices. </p>
<p>Future raft designs may also need modifications to ensure better stability and growth for other cut-flower and crop species. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Our promising findings show floating cut-flower farms could be a sustainable option for mitigating water pollution. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nim52wi_4z4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How floating cut-flower farms can clean polluted waterways.</span></figcaption>
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<p>One of us (Locke-Rodriguez) is expanding this research and working to scale up floating farms in South Florida as a demonstration of what could take place in the many locations facing similar issues worldwide.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take on interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jazmin Locke received funding from the USDA-NIFA-NNF and NSF-CREST as a PhD student to help fund this dissertation research at Florida International University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:jayachan@fiu.edu">jayachan@fiu.edu</a> receives funding from USDA-NIFA. </span></em></p>Phosphorus and nitrogen contribute to water pollution and cause harmful algal blooms. New research shows how mats of floating flower beds can take advantage of these nutrients while cleaning the water.Jazmin Locke-Rodriguez, Post Doctoral Associate in the Institute of Environment, Florida International UniversityKrishnaswamy Jayachandran, Professor of Agroecology, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230532024-02-08T13:38:04Z2024-02-08T13:38:04ZAmericans spend millions of dollars on Valentine’s Day roses. I calculated exactly how much<p>Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day – an occasion that traditionally combines romance with big business. One of the biggest businesses is selling roses, which Americans increasingly love. Back in 1989, about 1 billion cut roses were sold annually in the U.S. By 2023, that had risen to roughly 2.8 billion – enough to give <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/united-states-adult-population-grew-faster-than-nations-total-population-from-2010-to-2020.html">every adult in the country</a> a bouquet of 10. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.bu.edu/questrom/">business school</a> professor who studies the <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com/">economic impact</a> of holidays, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-zagorsky-58a90825a/">I wondered</a> how much money Americans spend on roses each year while I was standing in line with two dozen red and pink ones for my sweetheart. </p>
<p>It’s not easy to find out. The National Retail Federation estimates <a href="https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/valentines-day-spending-significant-others-reach-new-record-nrf-survey">people will spend US$2.6 billion on Valentine’s Day flowers</a>, but that includes everything from azaleas to zinnias. The Society of American Florists says that <a href="https://safnow.org/aboutflowers/holidays-occasions/valentines-day/valentines-day-floral-statistics/">250 million roses</a> are produced for the holiday, but it doesn’t estimate spending.</p>
<p>So I decided to investigate. And what I found was surprising: The roses in my hand were tied to the war on illegal drugs.</p>
<h2>Where are those roses coming from?</h2>
<p>Roses sold in the U.S. were once largely homegrown but are now <a href="https://dataweb.usitc.gov/">mainly imported</a> from South America. To learn more, I turned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which for decades has tracked the number of domestic farms and nurseries selling cut roses. These farms are different from nurseries growing rose bushes sold in pots to landscapers and gardeners.</p>
<p>Back in 1970, there were <a href="https://agcensus.library.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/1969-Horticultural_Specialties-U.S._TABLES-660-Table-05.pdf">almost 800 U.S. commercial farms</a> and nurseries growing cut roses. U.S. cut-rose growers were powerhouses, selling almost half a billion roses annually.</p>
<p>But since the 1970s, American cut-rose growers have withered away. The USDA’s latest <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Online_Resources/Census_of_Horticulture_Specialties/hortic_1_0013_0013.pdf">Census of Horticultural Specialties</a> found about 110 farms and nurseries growing cut roses. These farms harvested only about 18 million roses, which is quite a comedown over 50 years.</p>
<p>So <a href="https://aei.ag/2022/02/14/valentines-flower-imports-trends/">where are roses coming from now</a>? In 2023, the <a href="https://dataweb.usitc.gov/">U.S. imported</a> about 2.8 billion cut roses. The Netherlands, site of the <a href="https://www.visitaalsmeer.nl/en/facts-flower-auction-aalsmeer/">world’s largest flower auction</a>, isn’t the answer. Instead, cut roses sold in the U.S. primarily come from two places: Colombia and Ecuador. <a href="https://emergingmarkets.today/colombia-blooms-the-growing-business-of-flower-exports-2023/">Colombia provides</a> almost 60% of our roses, and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220715-no-bed-of-roses-for-ecuador-s-flower-industry">Ecuador almost</a> 40%.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two security agents dressed in black inspect cardboard boxes filled with white and yellow flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574189/original/file-20240207-20-x7p3w1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists inspect imported roses ahead of Mother’s Day in May 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/redondo-beach-ca-united-states-customs-and-border-news-photo/1253740698?adppopup=true">Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why Colombia and Ecuador?</h2>
<p>The shift from U.S.-grown roses to South American ones happened a few decades ago, when the U.S. and Colombian governments were looking for new ways to <a href="https://tradevistas.org/rose-how-trade-policy-was-used-to-fight-drugs-from-colombia/">stem the flow of cocaine</a> into the U.S.</p>
<p>One part of the strategy was to convince farmers in Colombia to stop growing coca leaves – a traditional Andean plant that provides the raw ingredient for making cocaine – by giving them preferential access to U.S. markets if they grew something else.</p>
<p>So, in the early 1990s, Colombia and Ecuador signed the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. Signing gave these coca-producing countries duty-free access to U.S. markets in exchange for clamping down on growing illegal drugs.</p>
<p>Whether the act <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-flowers-you-buy-your-mom-for-mothers-day-may-be-tied-to-the-us-war-on-drugs-138162">stopped drug production is unclear</a>, but many businesses in Colombia and Ecuador started growing and shipping flowers north.</p>
<h2>Prices for roses</h2>
<p>The vast quantity of roses coming up from Colombia and Ecuador has kept rose prices in check. The <a href="https://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/fv-help-02">USDA has tracked</a> the price of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/tea-rose">dozen red hybrid tea roses</a> – the ones you commonly see being offered to romantic partners on Valentine’s Day – sold in major supermarkets weekly since 2011. Back in 2011, a dozen roses would set a buyer back a bit over $10. In 2023, the same arrangement cost around two dollars more, a price increase of 20%. Inflation went up 35% over the same time, making roses comparatively cheaper.</p>
<p>While rose prices are low during much of the year, they have large seasonal swings. In a typical year, <a href="https://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/fv-report-retail?&commodity=ROSE,+HYBRID+TEA&repDate=01/01/2023&repType=wiz&endDate=09/01/2023&run=Run&type=retail&compareLy=No&locChoose=locState&portal=fv&commodityClass=allcommodity&region=NATIONAL&class=ORNAMENTALS&organic=ALL&startIndex=1">supermarket prices for a dozen roses</a> double around Valentine’s Day. Last year, <a href="https://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/fv-report-retail?&commodity=ROSE,+HYBRID+TEA&repDate=01/01/2023&repType=wiz&endDate=09/01/2023&run=Run&type=retail&compareLy=No&locChoose=locState&portal=fv&commodityClass=allcommodity&region=NATIONAL&class=ORNAMENTALS&organic=ALL&startIndex=1">prices ranged</a> from a low in August of about $8 to almost $23 before Valentine’s Day. While the USDA doesn’t track flower shop prices, visiting my local florist shows the cost of <a href="https://www.winstonflowers.com/rose-collection/cat5100126">premium long-stem roses in vases</a> is higher.</p>
<h2>Why the price increase?</h2>
<p>Prices rise around Valentine’s Day as all parts of the supply chain, from growers to wholesalers to retailers, are stressed during the buying surge.</p>
<p>The U.S. government tracks monthly the <a href="https://www.usitc.gov/">import price</a> of single roses. In 2023, before Valentine’s Day, the average cut rose stem cost 40 cents <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/the-new-roots-of-the-flower-trade/">coming off the cargo plane</a>. This is higher than the annual low in August of 25 cents a stem. This means in August, roses cost wholesalers $3 a dozen, while a dozen Valentine’s Day roses cost $5 after clearing customs.</p>
<p>The USDA not only tracks prices in supermarkets but also <a href="https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/b2773v71t">wholesale flower prices</a> in my city, Boston. Retail customers can’t buy flowers at these prices, since the <a href="http://www.newenglandflowerexchange.com/home.html">flower market caters</a> only to people in the trade. Just before Valentine’s Day 2024, <a href="https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/b2773v71t/zp38z133b/9880xb84f/BH_FV201.PDF">Boston wholesalers were charging</a> between $1 and $1.65 per stem of hybrid tea roses. <a href="https://downloads.usda.library.cornell.edu/usda-esmis/files/b2773v71t/2j62tn33p/k643ch93t/BH_FV201.TXT">Back in August 2023</a>, they were selling roses for between 90 cents and $1.50 per stem. These wholesale prices suggest supermarkets don’t make much if any money selling roses most of the year, earning profits only during the peak holiday times.</p>
<p>While none of the sources directly answered my question on how much money Americans spent on roses each year, it’s easy to calculate a rough value. In 2023, there were around 2.8 billion cut roses sold. Given the average price in supermarkets over the whole year for a dozen roses was a bit over $12, this means people in the U.S. are spending more than $3 billion annually.</p>
<p>And if you’re buying roses for your sweetheart, like I did for mine, then you’re contributing to the roughly half a billion dollars worth of roses bought to say “I love you” at Valentine’s Day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223053/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Coming to grips with the economics of roses can be a thorny issue.Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217152024-01-30T13:34:33Z2024-01-30T13:34:33ZThe opening of India’s new Rama temple made waves – but here’s what the central ritual actually meant<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571512/original/file-20240125-15-t0kpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2261%2C1493&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center left, performs rituals during the opening of the temple dedicated to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, India, on Jan. 22, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaHinduTemple/8ee5a9844b5f4124965e6fd8b2525d08/photo?Query=rama%20temple%20india%20modi&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=648&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=NaN&vs=true&vs=true">Press Information Bureau via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The consecration rituals of the icon of Lord Rama were performed in a newly built mega-temple in the town of Ayodhya, India, on Jan. 22, 2024. The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMumilPMcfs">performed the rituals</a> during a <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/what-is-ram-mandir-pran-pratishthas-abhijeet-muhurat-which-will-last-84-seconds-101705901568681.html">48-minute period considered auspicious</a> by Hindu astrologers. Lord Rama, an avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, is one of the most important deities in the Hindu tradition.</p>
<p>Amid the carefully staged pageantry, the media’s hysteria over the guest lists and the celebrations of <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/ram-mandir-celebrations-in-us-car-rally-organised-at-golden-gate-bridge-with-tesla-light-show-101705896670586.html">exultant Hindus</a> – not just in India but <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X437KhS9Wl4">from Golden Gate Bridge to Times Square</a> – the religious significance of the rituals, known in Sanskrit as “prana pratishtha,” or “establishment of breath,” was completely lost. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/others/ram-lalla-s-idol-from-makeshift-temple-shifted-to-sanctumsanctorum-101705860918400.html">Media all around the world, particularly in India, referred</a> to the icon of Lord Rama as an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/why-indias-new-ram-temple-matters-dispute-behind-it-2024-01-22">“idol</a>.” However, the term does not capture the Hindu belief that matter transforms into divine reality during this ritual. Although there are many nuanced Sanskrit words, there is no English term that does justice. In fact, the word “idol” has pejorative implications. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://religion.ufl.edu/directory/vasudha-narayanan/">professor of religion</a> who has studied the religious significance of deities in temples, I want to highlight this important ritual, which is said to transform the material image. </p>
<h2>From matter to deity</h2>
<p>The ritual of “prana pratishtha” is a culmination of several days or even weeks of preparation. At crucial moments during the performance of the ritual, many Hindus, though not all, believe that the divine being comes to abide in a carefully carved icon. </p>
<p>In an idea roughly analogous to <a href="https://www.usccb.org/eucharist">transubstantiation</a> in the Catholic Church – where, when the priest consecrates the bread and wine, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23013382">the whole substance of the bread and wine</a> is believed to become the body of Christ – through prana pratishtha, the material icon becomes a divine presence.</p>
<p>Although several Hindu texts speak of the supreme being as being beyond form, gender and even number, paradoxically, Hindus also see the supreme entity as graciously taking a “material” form and <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Gods_of_Flesh_Gods_of_Stone/LD91JTIl8uIC?hl=en&gbpv=1">abiding in a temple as an incarnate deity worthy of worship</a>. </p>
<p>Despite textual and regional variations, there are many common practices in this ritual. During the process of prana pratishtha, this image carved by a master sculptor is initially purified, then covered in <a href="https://www.republicworld.com/india/ram-mandir-interesting-facts-rituals-for-19th-20th-and-21st-jan-details-inside/">water, grains, fragrant substances, herbs, flowers and other materials</a>. In doing so, it is said to absorb the energies of the universe. Texts called “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Classical_Hindu_Mythology/zobyDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cornelia+dimmitt&printsec=frontcover">Puranas</a>” and “<a href="https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/agama">Agamas</a>,” composed in the first millennium C.E., give many details for the procedure. </p>
<p>There are fire sacrifices in a pavilion outside, the deity is taken formally into the temple and also in a <a href="https://thedailyguardian.com/ram-lallas-pran-pratistha-the-grandeur-of-ayodhya-dham-is-increasing-every-moment/#google_vignette">procession through the town</a>, and there is recitation of mantras.</p>
<p>Precious stones and metals, as well as a yantra, a metal plate with geometrical drawings, are buried in the ground in the inner shrine where the deity is to be installed. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ram-lalla-eyes-mandir-idol-pran-pratishtha-sculptor-arun-yogiraj-ayodhya-temple-shwet-shila-2492448-2024-01-23">The eyes of the icon are also ritually opened</a>. Since the unrestricted power or “shakti” of the deity is believed to blaze out through its gaze, a mirror is held in front of it both to guide the sculptor in opening the eyes carefully and also to reflect the power back to it. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PtVX2Fhx0Q">In Ayodhya, a scarf was removed from the eyes of the deity</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BQGTmW10NZQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The consecration ceremony at the Rama temple in Ayodhya.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the crucial time, the chief priest invokes the divine being, inviting it to abide in the icon. With the opening of the eyes and the invoking and transfer of breath, the material icon is said to be transformed into an incarnation of the deity. </p>
<h2>Controversies over the temple land</h2>
<p>The “prana pratishtha” rituals have been done in thousands of temples in India and globally. But the Ayodhya one has arguably drawn the most attention politically and has also been the most controversial. </p>
<p>The new temple has been built on the land where <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-IRTB-17391">a 16th century mosque – the Babri Masjid – was destroyed by Hindu activists in December 1992</a>. Some Hindus claim that the mosque had been built by razing a 15th century Rama temple, said to be the site of his birth. While there seems to be evidence that a temple stood where the mosque was built, scholars have disputed the claim that that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517901">spot was the very one where Rama was born</a>. Representatives of Jainism, another ancient religion of India, have also claimed that a <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jain-body-claims-disputed-site-in-ayodhya/articleshow/39766315.cms?from=mdr">sixth century Jain temple</a> existed on this site before the mosque was built. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Creating_a_Nationality/1hduAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Creating%20a%20Nationality:%20The%20Ramjanmabhumi%20Movement%20and%20Fear%20of%20the%20Self">Several scholars have argued</a> that the destruction of the mosque is directly connected with Hindu nationalism and communal violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Hindu worshippers stand above the top dome of an ancient mosque waving saffron flags." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571527/original/file-20240125-27-o148ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People atop the 16th century Babri mosque before the structure was demolished in 1992.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-file-photograph-taken-on-december-6-1992-hindu-news-photo/88756585?adppopup=true">Douglas E. Curran/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hindus’ and Muslims’ rights to worship at the site have been litigated for more than a hundred years, and in 2019, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ayodhya-ram-mandir-babri-masjid-supreme-court-verdict-security-on-alert-1617220-2019-11-09">land be given to a Hindu trust</a> and a five-acre lot be given to the Muslims to build a mosque. Building the temple was started soon after this judgment. </p>
<p>Politically, the attention accompanying the rites highlighted the metaphor of Rama “<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/pm-narendra-modi-completes-ram-mandir-pran-pratishtha-ceremony-as-millions-celebrate-homecoming-of-ram-lalla-after-500-years/articleshow/107046063.cms?from=mdr">returning home</a>.” It refers to an incident in the story of Rama as told in the ancient epic, the “<a href="https://southasia.ucla.edu/religions/texts/ramayana/">Ramayana</a>,” when he is exiled from Ayodhya on the eve of his coronation and returns home after 14 years of exile.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/new-yorks-times-square-witnesses-hindu-joy-over-ayodhya-temple-1862932">Devotees’ sentiments</a> as well as speeches at the inauguration of the temple spoke of Rama’s return to Ayodhya after 500 years of being banished from his birthplace. </p>
<p>It was a clear reference to what the government and many Hindus believed to be a return of Rama to Ayodhya after his presence was “banished” <a href="https://time.com/6564070/india-modi-temple-ram/">with the building of the mosque</a> in the 16th century. </p>
<h2>‘Not in our names’</h2>
<p>There were many <a href="https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/dont-weaponize-faith-huge-times-square-projection-denounces-modinbsppolitical-stunt-in-ram-temple-controversynbsp?fbclid=IwAR3NPFKp3yvOpzTlMBDHPJFsEFxAGSN5GBCbPD6WTJTbkPfhsnif3rNjtrw">Hindus who objected</a> to the <a href="https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/i-condemn-repudiate-what-is-being-done-in-the-name-of-hinduism-in-ayodhya">politicization of the event</a> as well as the active role of the government and its agencies in the ritual fanfare. Indian Air Force choppers <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/video/iaf-pilots-showered-flowers-ram-mandir-pran-pratishtha-ceremony-ayodhya-2492123-2024-01-22">rained flowers on the temple after the consecration</a>. </p>
<p>Some observers, including outsiders sympathetic to Hinduism, saw these rituals as a <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/modi-is-god-a-jewish-perspective/">glorification of Modi, not Rama</a>. The event was also contested in religious circles. Several monastic heads refused to join the event, but a prominent Hindu writer said that these religious leaders were not representative of Hinduism and <a href="https://swarajyamag.com/commentary/shankaracharyas-hindu-unity-and-the-ayodhya-triumph-of-ram-bhaktas-a-closer-look">refuted their objections</a>. </p>
<p>Despite these controversies, for those Hindus who supported the building of the temple, it was a sacred moment. For during the prana pratishtha, the divine is said to become present in the icon, if the rituals are properly performed. The “idol” made of material substance is then transformed, and the temple becomes the home for the deity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vasudha Narayanan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of Hinduism explains the importance of the consecration ritual, which is believed to bring the presence of the divine into the temple.Vasudha Narayanan, Distinguished Professor of Religion, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212182024-01-25T20:46:04Z2024-01-25T20:46:04ZThe first flowers evolved before bees – so how did they become so dazzling?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571111/original/file-20240124-17-j4irzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C25%2C5596%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/red-pink-and-yellow-flowering-plants-v-3NQ3pmWkY">Nature Uninterrupted Photography/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colourful flowers, and the insects and birds that fly among their dazzling displays, are a joy of nature. But how did early relationships between flower colour and animal pollinators emerge?</p>
<p>In a study published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2023.2018">Proceedings of the Royal Society</a>, we have unravelled this mystery by analysing the visual environments in which the ancestors of today’s bees foraged from flowers.</p>
<p>We measured and analysed the light reflected from today’s flowers, as well as the rocks, soil, sticks, bark and leaves that form their natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>From this data we built computer simulations that recreate the ancient visual environment when the first flowers emerged.</p>
<h2>Insect colour vision came before flowers</h2>
<p>Today, bees are prolific pollinators of flowering plants, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-bee-eye-camera-helps-us-support-bees-grow-food-and-protect-the-environment-110022">food crops</a>. Bees use <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2010.2412">colour vision</a> based on ultraviolet, blue and green sensitive photoreceptors (light-sensing cells) to detect and discriminate the most rewarding flowers. In comparison, most humans perceive colour using blue, green and red sensitive photoreceptors.</p>
<p>When the first flowers evolved during the Mesozoic era, between 252 million and 66 million years ago, the ancestors of bees had to orientate themselves, maintain stable flight, avoid collisions, and find food among natural backgrounds. We suspect their visual systems may have been influenced by evolution to efficiently operate in that environment.</p>
<p>By the time the first flowering plants appeared, bees’ ancestors had already evolved colour vision – and we know it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01142181">has stuck around throughout the evolutionary history of bees</a>.</p>
<p>So, while bees weren’t initially around, their ancestors were. Flower colours likely evolved the vivid colours we see today to suit this ancient visual system. At the same time, the first bees emerged as the most efficient pollinators. </p>
<h2>What colour were flower backgrounds on the ancient Earth?</h2>
<p>Australia is an ideal place to collect data on natural background materials that early insects would have seen, as it is a <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/bt/BT00023">geologically ancient continent</a>.</p>
<p>We collected background samples from across Australia and measured their reflective properties using a tool called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrophotometry">spectrophotometer</a>.</p>
<p>We used this data to create a database of materials that would have been present in the visual environment of flying insects more than 100 million years ago – when the first flowers appeared.</p>
<h2>Flower colour evolved in response to bee colour vision</h2>
<p>For our collection of natural backgrounds, insect and bird pollinated flowers, we calculated <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215016120300479">marker points</a> – rapid changes in the intensity of light reflected from a surface, within a small wavelength band.</p>
<p>These marker points identify the key visual features of coloured surfaces, and we can use them for statistical testing of the evolutionary process. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-electromagnetic-spectrum-8046">Explainer: what is the electromagnetic spectrum?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>We then wrote computer simulations to generate possible flower backgrounds. By analysing their marker points, we tested the visibility of today’s flowers against the simulated backgrounds.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we showed that the distribution of marker points on petals from plants pollinated by bees clearly indicates these flowers are “salient” – that is, they stand out as stronger signals from natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>This finding matches with previous studies suggesting that in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00188925">Northern Hemisphere</a> and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2012.0827">Australia</a>, flowering plants evolved colour signals to facilitate colour perception by bees.</p>
<p>The very first flowers were likely a <a href="https://theconversation.com/flies-like-yellow-bees-like-blue-how-flower-colours-cater-to-the-taste-of-pollinating-insects-167111">dull greenish-yellow colour and initially pollinated by flies</a>. However, as the first bees – with their tuned vision systems – started pollinating flowers, the flowers likely evolved new colours to match the bees’ visual capabilities.</p>
<p>The process of natural selection seems to have driven flower colours to stand out from their backgrounds in the eyes of pollinators.</p>
<h2>Birds were involved, too</h2>
<p>Birds became established as flower visitors <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.17822">millions of years after insect pollination evolved</a>. Bird vision uses <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/510141">four types of colour photoreceptors</a>, and they can see long-wavelength red colours that bees cannot easily process against natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>Our analysis confirmed that bird-pollinated flowers evolved marker points towards <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.12135">longer wavelengths than bee-pollinated flowers</a>. Our new discovery also showed that these flowers systematically differ from natural backgrounds.</p>
<p>As Earth’s climate changes, it is important to consider what might happen to ecosystems and our food production systems <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/RS/RS23003">in a world without bees</a>. It is vital that we understand how pollination and plant reproduction may be altered.</p>
<p>Our research shows that bees are a major driver of floral evolution. Unless we protect these insects and their habitat, we will lose fundamental and beautiful aspects of life we all enjoy and need.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-can-do-so-much-more-than-you-think-from-dancing-to-being-little-art-critics-204039">Bees can do so much more than you think – from dancing to being little art critics</a>
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</em>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Dyer receives funding from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Dorin receives or has received funding and/or support from the Australian Research Council, Microsoft, National Geographic Society, AgriFutures Australia, Costa Group, Australian Blueberry Grower's Association, Sunny Ridge Berries.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mani Shrestha worked under the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) funded project, Professor Anke Jentsch, Disturbance Ecology Lab, University of Bayreuth, Germany and also wok in the Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jair Garcia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Flowers tend to stand out against a natural background. A new study shows this contrast evolved in a key relationship with their most famous pollinators – bees.Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Monash UniversityAlan Dorin, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash UniversityJair Garcia, Researcher and analyst, Monash UniversityMani Shrestha, Senior Researcher and International Fellow, Disturbance Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Germany, Bayreuth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2132712023-09-13T14:00:06Z2023-09-13T14:00:06ZFlowering plants survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid – and may outlive us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547777/original/file-20230912-15-mm7cp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C44%2C5937%2C3943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pink-rose-flower-pastel-ink-creative-1336421165">Zamurovic Brothers/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you looked up 66 million years ago you might have seen, for a split second, a bright light as a mountain-sized asteroid burned through the atmosphere and smashed into Earth. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04446-1">It was springtime</a> and the literal end of an era, the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/youth-and-education-in-science/mesozoic">Mesozoic</a>. </p>
<p>If you somehow survived the initial impact, you would have witnessed the devastation that followed. Raging firestorms, megatsunamis, and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11539442/">a nuclear winter</a> lasting months to years. The 180-million-year reign of non-avian dinosaurs was over in the blink of an eye, as well as at least <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.215.4539.1501?casa_token=DrtWs804WZsAAAAA:4SB3Ih2f1Ffnvilw9c8jxUViVd3IvyUVQRQ9PHOIezMQ7O5K9fR3a_nTWZWVKDJ94uKgsCBUfMH7Kg">75% of the species</a> who shared the planet with them. </p>
<p>Following this event, known as the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/K-T-extinction">Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction</a> (K-Pg), a new dawn emerged for Earth. Ecosystems bounced back, but the life inhabiting them was different.</p>
<p>Many iconic pre-K-Pg species can only be seen in a museum. The formidable <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>, the <em>Velociraptor</em>, and the winged dragons of the <em>Quetzalcoatlus</em> genus could not survive the asteroid and are confined to deep history. But if you take a walk outside and smell the roses, you will be in the presence of ancient lineages that blossomed in the ashes of K-Pg. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Although the living species of roses are not the same ones that shared Earth with <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>, their lineage (family Rosaceae) <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17116-5">originated tens of millions of years</a> before the asteroid struck.</p>
<p>And the roses are an not unusual angiosperm (flowering plant) lineage in this regard. Fossils and genetic analysis suggest that the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1241-3">vast majority of angiosperm families</a> originated before the asteroid. </p>
<p>Ancestors of the ornamental orchid, magnolia and passionflower families, grass and potato families, the medicinal daisy family, and the herbal mint family all shared Earth with the dinosaurs. In fact, the explosive evolution of angiosperms into the roughly 290,000 species today may have been facilitated by K-Pg. </p>
<p>Angiosperms seemed to have taken advantage of the fresh start, similar to the early members of our own lineage, <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(23)00767-4.pdf">the mammals</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Purple flower growing out of a crack in the pavement" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547779/original/file-20230912-35629-s73lh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Flowers are surprisingly resilient.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/purple-flower-growing-on-crack-street-776381272">PopTika/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>However, it’s not clear how they did it. Angiosperms, so fragile compared with dinosaurs, cannot fly or run to escape harsh conditions. They rely on sunlight for their existence, which was blotted out. </p>
<h2>What do we know?</h2>
<p>Fossils in different regions tell different versions of events. It is clear there was high angiosperm turnover (species loss and resurgence) <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.abf1969?casa_token=s5xuTGC7SpAAAAAA%3AJHgkvkmunfwRZLpwfcoumaus-20jehSJ4vDnlJa8LRzFqco_pveiJVbdvHm1h2P3SXvHckDRN5ERuw">in the Amazon</a> when the asteroid hit, and a decline in plant-eating insects <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.042492999#:%7E:text=The%20most%20specialized%20associations%2C%20which,associations%20regained%20their%20Cretaceous%20abundances">in North America</a> which suggests a loss of food plants. But other regions, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666723001021?via%3Dihub">such as Patagonia</a>, show no pattern. </p>
<p>A study in 2015 analysing angiosperm fossils of 257 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/genus-taxon">genera</a> (families typically contain multiple genera) found K-Pg had <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.13247">little effect</a> on extinction rates. But this result is difficult to generalise across the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/71/2/301/6275244">13,000 angiosperm genera</a>. </p>
<p>My colleague Santiago Ramírez-Barahona, from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and I took a new approach to solving this confusion in a study we <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0314">recently published</a> in Biology Letters. We analysed large angiosperm family trees, which previous work mapped from mutations in DNA sequences from 33,000-73,000 species. </p>
<p>This way of tree-thinking has laid the groundwork for major insights about the evolution of life, since the first family tree was scribbled by Charles Darwin. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Scribble of a diagram with handwritten notes to the sides and underneath" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1229&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1229&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547814/original/file-20230912-25-6n0182.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1229&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Charles Darwin’s first diagram of an evolutionary tree from 1837.</span>
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</figure>
<p>Although the family trees we analysed did not include extinct species, their shape contains clues about how extinction rates changed through time, through the way the branching rate ebbs and flows. </p>
<p>The extinction rate of a lineage, in this case angiosperms, can be estimated using mathematical models. The one we used compared ancestor age with estimates for how many species should be appearing in a family tree according to what we know about the evolution process. </p>
<p>It also compared the number of species in a family tree with estimates of how long it takes for a new species to evolve. This gives us a net diversification rate - how fast new species are appearing, adjusted for the number of species that have disappeared from the lineage. </p>
<p>The model generates time bands, such as a million years, to show how extinction rate varies through time. And the model allowed us to identify time periods that had high extinction rates. It can also suggest times in which major shifts in species creation and diversification have occurred as well as when there may have been a mass extinction event. It shows how well the DNA evidence supports these findings too. </p>
<p>We found that extinction rates seem to have been remarkably constant over the last 140-240 million years. This finding highlights how resilient angiosperms have been over hundreds of millions of years. </p>
<p>We cannot ignore the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-extinction/article/endcretaceous-plant-extinction-heterogeneity-ecosystem-transformation-and-insights-for-the-future/D74EBD512E4261E4C28BB7AF024E80B9">fossil evidence</a> showing that many angiosperm species did disappear around K-Pg, with some locations hit harder than others. But, as our study seems to confirm, the lineages (families and orders) to which species belonged carried on undisturbed, creating life on Earth as we know it. </p>
<p>This is different to how non-avian dinosaurs fared, who disappeared in their entirety: their entire branch was pruned. </p>
<p>Scientists believe <a href="https://genome.cshlp.org/content/24/8/1334.short">angiosperm resilience</a> to the K-Pg mass extinction (why only leaves and branchlets of the angiosperm tree were pruned) may be explained by their ability to adapt. For example, their evolution of new seed-dispersal and pollination mechanisms. </p>
<p>They can also <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.0912">duplicate their entire genome</a> (all of the DNA instructions in an organism) which provides a second copy of every single gene on which selection can act, potentially leading to new forms and greater diversity.</p>
<p>The sixth mass extinction event <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.1400253">we currently face</a> may follow a similar trajectory. A worrying number of angiosperm species are already threatened with extinction, and their demise will probably lead to the end of life as we know it. </p>
<p>It’s true angiosperms may blossom again from a stock of diverse survivors - and they may outlive us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213271/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Thompson received PhD funding from Roger and Sue Whorrod (University of Bath alumni and philanthropists).</span></em></p>The fossil record tells conflicting stories about what happened to flowering plants after the asteroid.Jamie Thompson, Postdoctoral Evolutionary Biologist, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2025912023-06-19T12:23:19Z2023-06-19T12:23:19ZHow do spices get their flavor?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525195/original/file-20230509-18-suu7hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5184%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Without spices, our meals would have less color and flavor.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/spices-royalty-free-image/556881787">Helaine Weide/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p>How do spices get their flavor? – Liam, age 6, San Francisco</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>I love savory and spicy foods. Lasagna laden with basil and oregano. Beautifully golden curries <a href="https://www.britannica.com/search?query=turmeric">infused with turmeric</a>, or rice <a href="https://www.britannica.com/search?query=saffron">flavored with saffron</a>. I can’t pass up a cinnamon-dusted snickerdoodle cookie. And some of my favorite childhood memories center on my mom’s nutmeg-infused sweet potato pie.</p>
<p>These ingredients come from many different plants and distinct plant parts, including leaves, seeds, bark and plant oils. Their flavors are created by accumulated <a href="https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals">phytochemicals</a> – substances the plants make. “Phyto” comes from the Latin word for plant.</p>
<p>Plants produce chemicals for different purposes. In my recent book, “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674241282">Lessons from Plants</a>,” I explore how plants use some of those compounds to communicate with one another.</p>
<p>Many of the chemicals that make up spice flavors can play important roles, such as protecting the plant against pests or pathogens. Known as secondary compounds, they can also help plants adapt to changes in the world around them. And, as spices, they communicate powerfully to our taste buds. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Harvesting Ceylon cinnamon in Sri Lanka involves a lot of handwork.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Common kitchen herbs like basil and oregano come from leafy plants. Essential aromatic oils that accumulate in the plants’ leaves produce their flavors. For basil, those oils are called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/basil">eugenol and linalool</a>; oregano gets its flavors from <a href="https://draxe.com/essential-oils/oregano-oil-benefits/#">carvacrol and thymol</a>. Oils from both of these herbs have medicinal uses against infections, pain and swelling.</p>
<p>Other common spices, such as pepper and red chili, come from the berries or fruits of plants. Black pepper is made by grinding the small berries, known as peppercorns, from the plant <em>Piper nigrum</em>. Red pepper comes from ground-up dried chiles – <a href="https://cpi.nmsu.edu/chile-info/for-kids-pages/the-story-of-chile-peppers.html">small, hot-tasting fruits</a> that grow on low bushes.</p>
<p>Turmeric spice comes from another plant part – the rhizomes, or underground stems, of the flowering plant <em>Curcuma longa</em>. Rhizomes often are confused with roots, but they are more like stems that grow sideways underground and help the plant spread. A relative of ginger, another rhizome-derived spice, turmeric is beautifully orange and is used in a range of cooking that includes my beloved curries. </p>
<p>Saffron is from the red-colored, threadlike <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigma_(botany)">stigmas</a> of the plant <em>Crocus sativus</em>. The stigma is one component of the female part of a flower. Saffron is one of the most expensive spices, because harvesting stigmas is very labor-intensive – it’s typically <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwJkN3EaJW0">done by hand with tweezers</a>. Saffron is high in antioxidants and has been used as a medicine, dye and perfume. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A six-petaled purple flower with bright red threads extending from its center." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525972/original/file-20230512-24221-upuv0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saffron comes from the vivid red stigma of <em>Crocus sativus</em>, commonly known as the ‘saffron crocus’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron#/media/File:Saffron8.jpg">Serpico/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cinnamon, which cooks use in all kinds of baked goods, is derived from yet another plant part: the inner bark of tree species from the genus <em>Cinnamomum</em>. The phytochemical that gives cinnamon its distinctive smell and its rich woody flavor is the aromatic compound <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamaldehyde">cinnamaldehyde</a>. </p>
<p>Rich in antioxidants, cinnamon may help <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon#">control blood pressure and reduce inflammation</a>. It also has natural antifungal and antimicrobial properties that may serve to protect the trees that produce it.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nutmeg">dried nutmeg</a> that my mom used in her legendary pie comes from grinding the seed of the tropical evergreen tree family <em>Myristica fragrans</em>. The same plant produces another spice, called mace, which is often used to flavor baked custards and to spice sausages or other meat. </p>
<p>Plants can teach us all kinds of meaningful lessons. One of their powerful truths is that variety is literally the spice of life. I’m thankful for their tasty chemical defenses every time I cook. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beronda L. Montgomery receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Humans have figured out how to season their food with virtually every part of plants.Beronda L. Montgomery, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Grinnell CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2075522023-06-16T14:24:10Z2023-06-16T14:24:10ZHow a 400 million year old fossil changes our understanding of mathematical patterns in nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532366/original/file-20230616-21-4pp0wj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=721%2C543%2C3841%2C2902&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The spiky branches of a monkey puzzle tree.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-spiky-branches-monkey-puzzle-tree-1991478518">Joshua Bruce Allen/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If your eyes have ever been drawn to the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem, the texture of a pineapple or the scales of a pinecone, then you have unknowingly witnessed brilliant examples of mathematical patterns in nature. </p>
<p>What ties all of these botanical features together is their shared characteristic of being arranged in spirals that adhere to a numerical sequence called the <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/math-concepts/fibonacci-nature.htm">Fibonacci sequence</a>. These spirals, referred to as Fibonacci spirals for simplicity, are extremely widespread in plants and have fascinated scientists from Leonardo da Vinci to Charles Darwin. </p>
<p>Such is the prevalence of Fibonacci spirals in plants today that they are believed to represent an <a href="https://archive.org/details/oninterpretation00churuoft">ancient and highly conserved feature</a>, dating back to the earliest stages of plant evolution and persisting in their present forms.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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</figure>
<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>However, our <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg4014">new study</a> challenges this viewpoint. We examined the spirals in the leaves and reproductive structures of a fossilised plant dating back 407 million years. Surprisingly, we discovered that all of the spirals observed in this particular species did not follow this same rule. Today, only a very few plants don’t follow a Fibonacci pattern. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The first author of the study creating digital 3D models of Asteroxylon mackiei." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532208/original/file-20230615-19-f78zmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Holly-Anne Turner, first author of the study, creating digital 3D models of Asteroxylon mackiei at the University of Edinburgh.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luisa-Marie Dickenmann/University of Edinburgh</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are Fibonacci spirals?</h2>
<p>Spirals occur frequently in nature and can be seen in plant leaves, animal shells and even in the double helix of our DNA. In most cases, these spirals relate to the Fibonacci sequence – a set of numbers where each is the sum of the two numbers that precede it (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on).</p>
<p>These patterns are particularly widespread in plants and can even be recognised with the naked eye. If you pick up a pinecone and look at the base, you can see the woody scales form spirals that converge towards the point of attachment with the branch. </p>
<p>At first, you may only spot spirals in one direction. But look closely and you can see both clockwise and anticlockwise spirals. Now count the number of clockwise and anticlockwise spirals, and in almost every case the number of spirals will be integers in the Fibonacci sequence. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The same pine cone colour coded to show 8 clockwise and 13 anticlockwise spirals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532196/original/file-20230615-19-2yudaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The same pinecone colour coded to show 8 clockwise and 13 anticlockwise spirals. 8 and 13 are consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci series.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandy Hetherington</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This particular instance is not an exceptional case. In a <a href="https://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/asbp/article/view/asbp.2015.025">study</a> that analysed 6,000 pinecones, Fibonacci spirals were found in 97% of the examined cones.</p>
<p>Fibonacci spirals are not just found in pine cones. They are common in other plant organs such as leaves and flowers. </p>
<p>If you look at the tip of a leafy shoot, such as that of a monkey puzzle tree, you can see the leaves are arranged in spirals that start at the tip and gradually wind their way round the stem. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519305806551">study</a> of 12,000 spirals from over 650 plant species found that Fibonacci spirals occur in over 90% of cases.</p>
<p>Due to their frequency in living plant species, it has long been thought that Fibonacci spirals were ancient and highly conserved in all plants. We set out to test this hypothesis with an investigation of early plant fossils.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three examples of living plants with Fibonacci spirals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532198/original/file-20230615-17-72pmew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of living plants with Fibonacci spirals. From left to right: spirals in leaves of a monkey puzzle trees, a pine cone and in the flower of a seaside daisy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandy Hetherington</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Non-Fibonacci spirals in early plants</h2>
<p>We examined the arrangement of leaves and reproductive structures in the first group of plants known to have developed leaves, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopodiopsida">clubmosses</a>.</p>
<p>Specifically, we studied plant fossils of the extinct clubmoss species <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/69447"><em>Asteroxylon mackiei</em></a>. The fossils we studied are now housed in museum collections in the UK and Germany but were originally collected from the <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geolmag/article/157/1/47/581268/An-introduction-to-the-Rhynie-chertIntroduction-to">Rhynie chert</a> – a fossil site in northern Scotland. </p>
<p>We took images of thin slices of fossils and then used digital reconstruction techniques to visualise the arrangement of <em>Asteroxylon mackiei’s</em> leaves in 3D and quantify the spirals. </p>
<p>Based on this analysis, we discovered that leaf arrangement was highly variable in <em>Asteroxylon mackiei</em>. In fact, non-Fibonacci spirals were the most common arrangement. The discovery of non-Fibonacci spirals in such an early fossil is surprising as they are very rare in living plant species today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A digital reconstruction of the fossil Asteroxylon mackiei." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532202/original/file-20230615-23-srqkq6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Life reconstruction of fossil Asteroxylon mackiei.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Humpage/Northern Rogue Studios</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Distinct evolutionary history</h2>
<p>These findings change our understanding of Fibonacci spirals in land plants. They suggest that non-Fibonacci spirals were ancient in clubmosses, overturning the view that all leafy plants started out growing leaves that followed the Fibonacci pattern.</p>
<p>Furthermore, it suggests that leaf evolution and Fibonacci spirals in clubmosses had an evolutionary history distinct from other groups of living plants today, such as ferns, conifers and flowering plants. It suggests that Fibonacci spirals emerged separately multiple times throughout plant evolution.</p>
<p>The work also adds another piece to the puzzle of a major evolutionary question – why are Fibonacci spirals so common in plants today? </p>
<p>This question continues to generate debate among scientists. Various hypotheses have been proposed, including to <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.16040?af=R">maximise the amount of light</a> that each leaf receives or to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0025556482900566">pack seeds efficiently</a>. But our findings highlight how insights from fossils and plants like clubmosses may provide vital clues in finding an answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207552/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandy Hetherington receives funding for this research from a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship MR/T018585/1 and a Royal Society Research Grant RGS\R2\212063.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Holly-Anne Turner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The arrangement of leaves on most plants follows a mathematical pattern – new research sheds light on how it evolved.Sandy Hetherington, Plant Evolutionary Biologist, The University of EdinburghHolly-Anne Turner, PhD Candidate, Palaeobotany, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2069882023-06-05T20:03:48Z2023-06-05T20:03:48ZThe world’s first flowers were pollinated by insects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529932/original/file-20230604-129052-ofkmgy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=850%2C1047%2C2161%2C1706&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plants existed on Earth for hundreds of millions of years before the first flowers bloomed. But when flowering plants did evolve, more than 140 million years ago, they were a huge evolutionary success.</p>
<p>What pollinated these first flowering plants, the ancestor of all the flowers we see today? Was it insects carrying pollen between those early flowers, fertilising them in the process? Or perhaps other animals, or even wind or water?</p>
<p>The question has been a tricky one to answer. However, in <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.18993">new research</a> published in New Phytologist, we show the first pollinators were most likely insects. </p>
<p>What’s more, despite some evolutionary detours, around 86% of all flowering plant species throughout history have also relied on insects for pollination.</p>
<h2>How to move pollen</h2>
<p>The timing of the evolution of the first flowering plants is still <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac130">a matter of debate</a>. However, their success is inarguable.</p>
<p>Around 90% of modern plants – some 300,000-400,000 species – are flowering plants, or what scientists call angiosperms. To reproduce, these plants make pollen in their flowers, which needs to be transferred to another flower to fertilise an ovule and produce a viable seed. </p>
<p>Small and highly mobile, insects can be highly effective pollen transporters. Indeed, recent <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.03.008">research on fossil insects</a> shows some insects may have been pollinating plants even before the first flowers evolved.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529933/original/file-20230604-25-bz6uu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flowers have evolved every sort of shape and colour to get themselves pollinated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of today’s flowering plants rely on insects for pollination. The plant’s flowers have evolved to attract insects via colour, scent and even sexual mimicry, and most reward them with nectar, pollen, oils or other types of food, making the relationship beneficial to both parties.</p>
<p>Some flowers, however, rely on other means to transport their pollen, such as vertebrate animals, wind or even water. </p>
<p>Which kind of pollination evolved first? Were insects there at the beginning, or were they a later “discovery”? </p>
<p>While <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0707989105">early evidence</a> suggests it was probably insects, until now this has never been tested across the full diversity of flowering plants – their full evolutionary tree.</p>
<h2>A family tree</h2>
<p>To find an answer, we used a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1241-3">family tree</a>” of all families of flowering plants, sampling more than 1,160 species and reaching back more than 145 million years.</p>
<p>This tree shows us when different plant families evolved. We used it to map backwards from what pollinates a plant in the present to what might have pollinated the ancestor of that plant in the past.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529930/original/file-20230604-80115-8wjczk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The evolutionary tree for all flowering plant families shows when wind, water and vertebrate pollination evolved from insect pollination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found insect pollination has been overwhelmingly the most common method over the history of flowering plants, occurring around 86% of the time. And our models suggest the first flowers were most likely pollinated by insects. </p>
<h2>Birds, bats and wind</h2>
<p>We also learned about the evolution of other forms of pollination. Pollination by vertebrate animals, such as birds and bats, small mammals and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/593050">even lizards</a>, has evolved at least 39 times – and reverted back to insect pollination at least 26 of those times.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A microscope photo showing tiny grass flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529929/original/file-20230604-15-o6v4bp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=708&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wind pollinated flowers are often very small and plain, like these grass flowers which can only be seen clearly under a microscope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruby E Stephens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Wind pollination has evolved even more often: we found 42 instances. These plants rarely go back to insect pollination.</p>
<p>We also found wind pollination evolved more often in open habitats, at higher latitudes. Animal pollination is more common in closed-canopy rainforests, near the equator.</p>
<h2>What kind of insects were the first pollinators?</h2>
<p>If you think of a pollinating insect, you probably imagine a bee. But while we don’t know exactly what insects pollinated the first flowering plants, we can be confident they weren’t bees.</p>
<p>Why not? Because most evidence we have indicates bees didn’t evolve until <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.04.004">after the first flowers</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flies-like-yellow-bees-like-blue-how-flower-colours-cater-to-the-taste-of-pollinating-insects-167111">Flies like yellow, bees like blue: how flower colours cater to the taste of pollinating insects</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So what do we know about the pollinators of the first flowering plants? Well, some early flowers have been preserved as fossils – and most of these are very small.</p>
<p>The first flower pollinators must have been quite small, too, to poke around in these flowers. The most likely culprits are some kind of small fly or beetle, maybe even a midge, or some extinct types of insects that have long disappeared.</p>
<p>If only we had a time machine we could go back and see these pollinators in action - but that will require a lot more research!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206988/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruby E. Stephens receives funding from the Australian Government's Research Training Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hervé Sauquet receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Australian Research Data Commons. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lily Dun received funding from Australian Research Data Commons. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Gallagher receives funding from The Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Cornwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research suggests insects have pollinated flowers since the pollen-bearing blooms first evolved more than 140 million years ago.Ruby E. Stephens, PhD Candidate, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie UniversityHervé Sauquet, Senior Research Scientist, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney and Adjunct Associate Professor, UNSW SydneyLily Dun, Research Assistant, UNSW SydneyRachael Gallagher, Associate Professor, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney UniversityWill Cornwell, Associate Professor in Ecology and Evolution, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044222023-05-24T09:52:43Z2023-05-24T09:52:43ZTiny but tenacious: arctic-alpine plants are engineers and warning bells<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527264/original/file-20230519-23-iz657c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1640%2C920&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Purple saxifrage, snow pearlwort and drooping saxifrage (left to right).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Watts</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When most people consider the arctic, or high-altitude mountain landscapes, they think of endless snow, ice and bare rock. But pastel-coloured flowers, sometimes just a few millimetres wide, bloom in these dramatic places too. The miniature flowers not only weather some of the toughest habitats on Earth, but can also help engineer the landscape for other species. </p>
<hr>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/tiny-but-tenacious-arctic-alpine-plants-are-engineers-and-warning-bells-204422&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Don’t be fooled by their delicate petals. Some species of rock jasmine and sandwort grow at <a href="https://hal.science/hal-03011674/document">well over 6,000 metres</a> on Mount Everest, while <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.12450">purple saxifrage</a> flourishes on the northernmost point of land in the world – Kaffeklubben Island, north of Greenland – and throughout the Arctic, Alaska and the tips of the European Alps. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527265/original/file-20230519-29-id2up7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trailing azalea close up.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Watts</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Plants in freezing cold environments are typically small and often form as ground-hugging rosettes, or dense tufts with short stems, known as cushions. Antarctic pearlwort <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1550865">sits no more than 5cm high</a> and displays a tight bunch of minute yellow blooms. The <a href="https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/arctic-alpine-plants-of-ben-lawers">summits of the Scottish Highlands</a>, where temperatures can drop to -27°C in winter, are home to <a href="https://www.scotlink.org/a-future-for-mountain-plants/">tiny flowers</a> also found in the Arctic, such as moss campion, dwarf willow, trailing azalea and starry saxifrage.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513999/original/file-20230307-18-3frmra.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.</em>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/plant-curious-137238?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=PlantCurious2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of a series, Plant Curious</a>, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.</em></p>
<p>Although plants such as these may appear fragile, their minute size helps them cope with freezing weather and fierce winds. Low stature and tightly packed leaves act as an aerodynamic trap and storage system for water and solar radiation. Microspaces within the dense, dome-like foliage are efficient structures for retaining moisture and heat. An arctic-alpine cushion’s internal temperature <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168945210002001">can be 15°C warmer than its surroundings</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525116/original/file-20230509-29-a4n04p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trailing azalea has tiny pink flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Watts</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pioneer plants</h2>
<p>Cushion plants and mosses can be integral to their local environment (known as <a href="https://we.copernicus.org/articles/10/44/2010/">keystone species</a>) and <a href="https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/bitstream/handle/20.500.11850/488365/3/2186-Textodelarti%CC%81culo-10166-1-10-20210429.pdf">ecosystem engineers</a> because they stabilise their harsh microclimate, and are often the first to colonise bare ground. As the cushions grow, they <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/14-2443.1?casa_token=Qi7PtpgnLeYAAAAA%3AygjLvorgq0pcnjiH2kaLJdd_3OYtaX1sATLSTIrR519Yz22IxEC-2ncNu8d2D_46CHCyroZY0OYI_A">improve the moisture and nutrient content</a> of thin soils by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207233.2015.1027594">accumulating organic material</a> both directly within the plant itself, and through their root systems. By <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1657/1523-0430%282007%2939%5B229%3AMMOCPA%5D2.0.CO%3B2">buffering temperature extremes</a>, cushions reduce the frost risk in their immediate surroundings. These processes create a habitat more suitable for less stress-tolerant plant species including arctic-alpines in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1657/1523-0430(2007)39%5B229:MMOCPA%5D2.0.CO;2">daisy</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3236739">pea</a> families.</p>
<p>Cushion formers are therefore vital <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17550870902926504">“nurse” plants</a> in mountain and polar regions. They also shelter <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3360034/">small arthropods</a> including <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1657/1523-0430%282006%2938%5B224%3ACPAMSF%5D2.0.CO%3B2">beetles</a> and tiny wingless insects called <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-021-02247-y">springtails</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527224/original/file-20230519-23-l30cw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rove beetle on snow pearlwort.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Watts</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These animals may in turn <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/ES12-00106.1">pollinate the plants they take refuge in</a>, and provide food for others higher up the food chain. </p>
<h2>An alarming trend</h2>
<p>However, these tiny arctic-alpine plants are now sounding a warning bell for the loss of biodiversity (the richness and variety of living things on earth) due to climate change. The plants have an <a href="https://www.britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bib/article/view/6">important relationship with snow</a>, which offers them protection from disturbance and erosion. But rising temperatures are causing earlier snow melt, allowing the spread of other species previously restricted to lower altitudes and latitudes. Consequently, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01390.x">taller generalist plants</a>, such as common grasses and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperaceae">sedges</a> are crowding out the smaller arctic-alpines. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525121/original/file-20230509-21-8xqdqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Snow pearlwort growing on Scottish munro Ben Lawers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Watts</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>High mountain areas are <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn6697">warming at twice the global average</a> and are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/geb.12469">geographically isolated</a> from other places with similar climates, leaving the specialist flowers nowhere to relocate to.</p>
<p>Arctic-alpine plant numbers are plummeting <a href="https://bsbi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/02/BSBI-Plant-Atlas-2020-summary-report-Britain-in-English-WEB.pdf">in Britain</a> and climate change is impacting numbers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0005-6">across the world</a>, threatening the future of species that depend on them. <a href="https://www.britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bib/article/view/6">Snow pearlwort</a>, a cushion plant usually no bigger than a penny, is the <a href="https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2022/july-2022-news/on-the-elevator-to-extinction-arctic-alpine-plants-endangered-in-scottish-highlands/">first flowering plant in Britain</a> to have its <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union Conservation of Nature</a> status moved from vulnerable to endangered due to climate change. Our research using <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722001732?via%3Dihub">long-term monitoring data from the Scottish Highlands</a> has shown that snow pearlwort, mountain sandwort and drooping saxifrage are withdrawing uphill and face mountaintop extinction because there is no higher ground left for them to retreat to as temperatures rise.</p>
<p>If we lose these plants from their British mountaintop outposts – at the edge of where they occur globally – this will signal that their strongholds in the Arctic and the Alps are also in danger.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525122/original/file-20230509-15-q84d13.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Moss campion is a mountain wildflower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Watts</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Polar and mountain regions are havens for biodiversity, nurturing <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2011.06984.x">species found nowhere else in the world</a>. We risk losing <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534719300904">the cultural and inspirational value</a> that rare species give us, with implications for the preservation of our natural heritage.</p>
<p>Plants are the building blocks of habitats and food webs on which other lifeforms across the planet depend, but they are frequently overlooked in conservation news stories. There’s a name for this phenomenon - <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.51">plant blindness</a>. Scientists, nature writers and the media usually turn to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.13701">trees</a> or species with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-00912-2">large colourful flowers</a> to open people’s eyes to the importance of plant life.</p>
<p>But we must celebrate and protect our tiniest of plants. If we don’t the spectrum of diversity across earth’s extremes will be lost for generations to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204422/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Helen Watts receives funding from the University of Stirling, Woodland Trust, Corrour Estate, Forest Research, The Scottish Forestry Trust, The National Trust for Scotland, Future Woodlands Scotland and the Macaulay Development Trust. She is affiliated with The Mountain Woodland Action Group and is on the Committee for Scotland for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Her research on arctic-alpine plants at Ben Lawers NNR utilised 40 years of long-term monitoring data collected together with staff and volunteers from The National Trust for Scotland.</span></em></p>Why we need to pay more attention to these minute flowers and how they survive in some of the harshest places in the world.Sarah Watts, PhD Researcher in Plant Ecology and Conservation, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057202023-05-18T14:37:02Z2023-05-18T14:37:02ZDecolonize your garden: This long weekend, dig into the complicated roots of gardening — Listen<p>The May long weekend is the unofficial start of summer. And for those of you with home gardens or access to community space, this is the weekend to dust off your gardening tools and visit the garden centre for the growing season ahead.</p>
<p>As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s good time to ask some questions about its origins.</p>
<p>Whether you plan to get marigolds, plant a vegetable garden or create a pollinator patch — all gardens have complicated roots. </p>
<p>In fact, the practice of gardening is <a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">deeply tied to colonialism</a> — from the <a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science">formation of botany as a science</a>, to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01865-1">spread of seeds, species and knowledge.</a> </p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/92c92d2a-9628-4da6-9b3f-8bf5ec67d7cf?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/decolonize-your-garden-this-long-weekend-visit-the-complicated-roots-of-gardening-listen">In this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient</a>, we explore the complicated roots of the garden, including who gets to garden. We also discuss practical tips about what to plant with an eye to Indigenous knowledge. We speak with researcher Jacqueline L. Scott and also chat with community activist, Carolynne Crawley, who leads workshops that integrate Indigenous teachings into practice.</em></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526840/original/file-20230517-5572-g2q2yt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Watercolor illustration of Tulipa sylvestris in I Cinque libri di piante.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pietro Antonio Michiel, Venice ca. 1550–1576, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coveted tulips</h2>
<p>Some of the most recognizable plants today, such as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-real-tulip-fever-180964915/">tulips</a>, are the result of early colonial conquests. Originally found growing wild in the valleys where current China and Tibet meet Afghanistan and Russia, tulips were first cultivated in Istanbul as early as 1055. </p>
<p>Later, after they were hybridized and commodified by the Dutch, they became highly coveted status symbols because of their gorgeous, but fleeting, blooms. </p>
<p>Exploratory botanical voyages by colonial European powers were integral to the expansion of empire. These trips fueled the big business of collecting global plant samples and also led to the emergence of botany as a scientific discipline. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526841/original/file-20230517-21-yooz26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">227 figures of plant anatomical segments with descriptive text. Botany. Plant anatomy. Plant morphology. Plants. Roots (Botany). Roots (Botany) – Morphology. Roots (Botany) – Anatomy. Rootstocks. Tubers. Leaves. Leaves – Morphology. Flowers – Morphology. Flowers. Fruit – Morphology. Bulbs (Plant anatomy). Plants – Variation. Botany – France. Stems (Botany).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Botanical gardens served as labs</h2>
<p>Botanical gardens played a key role, serving as the laboratories where plant specimens were organized, ordered and named. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2021.100196">“Scientific objectivity”</a> asserted a Eurocentric point of view, disrupting and displacing Indigenous Knowledge and ecological practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526842/original/file-20230517-12607-80m0ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1913 illustrated depiction of African American people picking cotton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CottonpickHoustonWhere17.png">Jerome H. Farbar: 'Houston: Where Seventeen Railroads Meet the Sea.' Page 31/40, 'Cotton Pickers'</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The movement and transfer of plants around the world went hand in hand with the transportation of people to provide a labour force, through slavery and indentured servitude. </p>
<p>The plantation system cleared out local ecosystems and replaced traditional farming methods with growing cash crops — like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html">sugar-cane</a>, <a href="https://thecorrespondent.com/222/the-history-of-tea-is-darker-than-a-builders-brew">tea</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/16/20806069/slavery-economy-capitalism-violence-cotton-edward-baptist">cotton.</a> These were products meant for European curiosities, markets and profit and not for the local populations.</p>
<h2>Plant and racial hierarchies</h2>
<p>This colonial system of <a href="https://open.oregonstate.education/cultivatedplants/chapter/colonialagriculture/">organizing agriculture</a> laid the groundwork for <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/biology/race-scientific-taxonomy/">categorizing people</a> in a similar way, establishing a social hierarchy which dehumanized non-Europeans, helping justify slavery and Indigenous genocide, and eventually leading to racial categories.</p>
<p>This history has shaped our current relationships to the land, and our gardens. It also informs beliefs about land ownership and access; who has a right to enjoy the land, versus who is expected to be working on it. Who has the literal and figurative space and freedom to garden?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526848/original/file-20230517-13420-luw1sy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the left is a lawn (Stephen Cobb/Unsplash) and on the right is a native plant garden in Streeterville, Chicago (Shutterstock).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting attitudes</h2>
<p>But the soil is shifting. There is a growing shift away from <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">the colonial status symbol of the lawn</a> and <a href="https://chatelaine.com/living/quiet-quitting-garden/">manicured gardens</a>, in favour of <a href="https://broadview.org/lorraine-johnson-interview/">pollinator-friendly</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/realestate/why-some-of-your-annuals-should-be-native-plants.html">native plants</a>. </p>
<p>There is also a growing understanding that <a href="https://broadview.org/grandfather-teachings-gardening/">centuries-old Indigenous land-based knowledge</a> and practices — like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/wildfire-prescribed-burns-california-native-americans">controlled burns</a> — can help manage wildfires, and foster a more resilient landscape.</p>
<p>With concerns about our climate crisis growing, one of the possible avenues for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-gardens-can-boost-biodiversity-and-make-cities-more-sustainable-162810">creating more sustainable cities may very well lie in our gardens</a>.</p>
<p>Could we have an impact simply by thinking a little differently about the seeds we sow and the “weeds” we pull?</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526851/original/file-20230517-10717-ww5ofa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monarch butterfly on purple coneflowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeffrey Hamilton/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/29/news/tiffany-traverse-rare-indigenous-seed-project">Tiffany Traverse on seeds and their endless power to give, heal and grow</a> - <em>Canada’s National Observer</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-coloniality-of-planting">The coloniality of planting: legacies of racism and slavery in the practice of botany</a> - <em>The Architectural Review</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.noemamag.com/the-long-shadow-of-colonial-science/">The Long Shadow Of Colonial Science</a> - <em>Noema Magazine</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-it-time-to-decolonize-your-lawn/">Is it time to decolonize your lawn?</a> - <em>Globe and Mail</em></p>
<p><a href="https://turtleprotectors.com">Turtle Protectors</a> in Toronto’s High Park</p>
<p><a href="https://gardeningoutloud.substack.com/p/guest-episode-1-spring-joy-with-ateqah">Spring joy with Ateqah Khaki</a> - <em>Gardening Out Loud</em></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-colonial-past-of-botanical-gardens-can-be-put-to-good-use-104786">How the colonial past of botanical gardens can be put to good use</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/director-of-science-at-kew-its-time-to-decolonise-botanical-collections-141070">Director of science at Kew: it's time to decolonise botanical collections</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-shortage-of-native-seeds-is-slowing-land-restoration-across-the-us-which-is-crucial-for-tackling-climate-change-and-extinctions-199049">A shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526355/original/file-20230515-24343-lszaxe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">An aerial view of small green seedlings in pots.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Markus Spiske PG/Unsplash</span></span>
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As we approach the start of gardening season, it’s a good time to ask some questions about what to plant and who gets to plant.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAteqah Khaki, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038372023-05-17T12:39:23Z2023-05-17T12:39:23ZBees can learn, remember, think and make decisions – here’s a look at how they navigate the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526312/original/file-20230515-24407-1yxhj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2286%2C1560&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bumblebee lands on the flowers of a white sloe bush. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/april-2022-saxony-anhalt-kathendorf-a-bumblebee-lands-on-news-photo/1240227459">Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As trees and flowers blossom in spring, bees emerge from their winter nests and burrows. For many species it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/spring-signals-female-bees-to-lay-the-next-generation-of-pollinators-134852">time to mate</a>, and some will start new solitary nests or colonies. </p>
<p>Bees and other pollinators are essential to human society. They provide about one-third of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bee-economist-explains-honey-bees-vital-role-in-growing-tasty-almonds-101421">food we eat</a>, a service with a global value estimated at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20588">up to $US577 billion annually</a>.</p>
<p>But bees are interesting in many other ways that are less widely known. In my new book, “<a href="https://islandpress.org/books/what-bee-knows">What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees</a>,” I draw on my experience <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tqms8REAAAAJ&hl=en">studying bees for almost 50 years</a> to explore how these creatures perceive the world and their amazing abilities to navigate, learn, communicate and remember. Here’s some of what I’ve learned.</p>
<h2>It’s not all about hives and honey</h2>
<p>Because people are widely familiar with honeybees, many assume that all bees are social and live in hives or colonies with a queen. In fact, only about 10% of bees are social, and most types don’t make honey.</p>
<p>Most bees lead solitary lives, digging nests in the ground or finding abandoned beetle burrows in dead wood to call home. Some bees are cleptoparasites, <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/death-and-thievery-in-the-colony/">sneaking into unoccupied nests to lay eggs</a>, in the same way that cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let the unknowing foster parents <a href="https://madisonaudubon.org/blog/2018/8/9/into-the-nest-cowbirds-everybodys-favorite-villain">rear their chicks</a>.</p>
<p>A few species of tropical bees, known as vulture bees, survive by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02317-21">eating carrion</a>. Their guts contain acid-loving bacteria that enable the bees to digest rotting meat. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CGWgbHdgmBB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Busy brains</h2>
<p>The world looks very different to a bee than it does to a human, but bees’ perceptions are hardly simple. Bees are intelligent animals that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.05.005">likely feel pain</a>, remember patterns and odors and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01929">recognize human faces</a>. They <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/nlme.1996.0069">can solve mazes</a> and other problems and use simple tools. </p>
<p>Research shows that bees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.12.027">are self-aware</a> and may even have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.008">primitive form of consciousness</a>. During the six to 10 hours bees spend <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9583">sleeping daily</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.020">memories are consolidated</a> within their amazing brains – organs the size of a poppy seed that contain 1 million nerve cells. There are some indications that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.001">bees might even dream</a>. I’d like to think so. </p>
<h2>An alien sensory world</h2>
<p>Bees’ sensory experience of the world is markedly different from ours. For example, humans see the world through the primary colors of <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colcon.html">red, green and blue</a>. Primary colors for bees are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71496-2_15">green, blue and ultraviolet</a>.</p>
<p>Bees’ vision is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.010908.164537">60 times less sharp than that of humans</a>: A flying bee can’t see the details of a flower until it is about 10 inches away. However, bees can see hidden ultraviolet floral patterns that are invisible to us, and those patterns lead the bees to flowers’ nectar.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Naturalist David Attenborough uses ultraviolet light to show how flowers may appear different to bees than to humans.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bees also can spot flowers by detecting color changes at a distance. When humans watch film projected at 24 frames per second, the individual images appear to blur into motion. This phenomenon, which is called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/movement-perception/Apparent-movement#ref488126">flicker-fusion frequency</a>, indicates how capable our visual systems are at resolving moving images. Bees have a much higher flicker-fusion frequency – you would have to play the film 10 times faster for it to look like a blur to them – so they can fly over a flowering meadow and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00610583">see bright spots of floral color</a> that wouldn’t stand out to humans.</p>
<p>From a distance, bees detect flowers by scent. A honeybee’s sense of smell is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009110">100 times more sensitive</a> than ours. Scientists have used bees to sniff out chemicals <a href="https://entomologytoday.org/2013/11/25/can-trained-bees-detect-cancer-in-patients/">associated with cancer</a> and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-researchers-train-bees-to-detect-diabetes/">with diabetes</a> on patients’ breath and to detect the presence of <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2006/12/07/227361/using-bees-to-detect-bombs/">high explosives</a>. </p>
<p>Bees’ sense of touch is also highly developed: They can feel tiny fingerprint-like ridges <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.82.14.4750">on the petals of some flowers</a>. Bees are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772X.1995.11099233">nearly deaf</a> to most airborne sounds, unless they are very close to the source, but are sensitive if they are standing on a vibrating surface. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1348645052134944771"}"></div></p>
<h2>Problem solvers</h2>
<p>Bees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772X.1995.11099233">can navigate mazes</a> as well as mice can, and studies show that they are self-aware of their body dimensions. For example, when fat bumblebees were trained to fly and then walk through a slit in a board to get to food on the other side, the bees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016872117">turned their bodies sideways and tucked in their legs</a>. </p>
<p>Experiments by Canadian researcher Peter Kevan and Lars Chittka in England demonstrated remarkable feats of bee learning. Bumblebees were trained to pull a string – in other words, to use a tool – connected to a plastic disk with hidden depressions filled with sugar water. They could see the sugar wells but couldn’t get the reward <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002564">except by tugging at the string</a> until the disk was uncovered.</p>
<p>Other worker bees were placed nearby in a screen cage where they could see what their trained hive mates did. Once released, this second group also pulled the string for the sweet treats. This study demonstrated what scientists term <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/social-learning">social learning</a> – acting in ways that reflect the behavior of others.</p>
<h2>Pollinating with vibrations</h2>
<p>Even pollination, one of bees’ best-known behaviors, can be much more complicated than it seems. </p>
<p>The basic process is similar for all types of bees: Females carry pollen grains, the sex cells of plants, on their bodies from flower to flower as they collect pollen and nectar to feed themselves and their developing grubs. When pollen rubs off onto <a href="https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/plant-identification/plant-morphology/parts-of-a-flower">a flower’s stigma</a>, the result is pollination. </p>
<p>My favorite area of bee research examines a method called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2013.05.002">buzz pollination</a>. Bees use it on about 10% of the world’s 350,000 kinds of flowering plants that have special <a href="https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/biodiversity-counts/plant-identification/plant-morphology/parts-of-a-flower">anthers</a> – structures that produce pollen. </p>
<p>For example, a tomato blossom’s five anthers are pinched together, like the closed fingers of one hand. Pollen is released through one or two small pores at the end of each anther. </p>
<p>When a female bumblebee lands on a tomato flower, she bites one anther at the middle and contracts her flight muscles from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erab428">100 to 400 times per second</a>. These powerful vibrations eject pollen from the anther pores in the form of a cloud that strikes the bee. It all happens in just a few tenths of a second. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Bumblebees demonstrate buzz pollination on a Persian violet blossom.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bee hangs by one leg and scrapes the pollen into “baskets” – structures on her hind legs. Then she repeats the buzzing on the remaining anthers before moving to different flowers.</p>
<p>Bees also use buzz pollination on the flowers of blueberries, cranberries, eggplant and kiwi fruits. My colleagues and I are conducting experiments to determine the biomechanics of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0040">how bee vibrations eject pollen from anthers</a>. </p>
<h2>Planting for bees</h2>
<p>Many species of bees are <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-face-many-challenges-and-climate-change-is-ratcheting-up-the-pressure-190296">declining worldwide</a>, thanks to stresses including <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1126/science.1255957">parasites, pesticides and habitat loss</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wood cubes filled with twigs and bricks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526311/original/file-20230515-18664-v796la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A backyard ‘insect hotel’ for solitary bees and other nesting insects, made from stems, bricks and wood blocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/insect-hotel-for-solitary-bees-and-artificial-nesting-place-news-photo/601067110">Arterra/Universal Images Group vis Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Whether you have an apartment window box or several acres of land, you can do a few <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-help-insects-make-them-welcome-in-your-garden-heres-how-153609">simple things to help bees</a>. </p>
<p>First, plant native wildflowers so that blooms are available in every season. Second, try to avoid using insecticides or herbicides. Third, provide open ground where burrowing bees can nest. With luck, soon you’ll have some buzzing new neighbors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Buchmann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists are learning amazing things about bees’ sensory perception and mental capabilities.Stephen Buchmann, Adjunct Professor of Entomology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2000242023-02-17T14:12:28Z2023-02-17T14:12:28ZHow Sylvia Plath’s profound nature poetry elevates her writing beyond tragedy and despair<blockquote>
<p>I cannot stop writing poems! … They come from the vocabulary of woods and animals and earth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong><em>From a letter from Sylvia Plath to her mother, 1956</em></strong></p>
<p>Popular perceptions of Sylvia Plath tend to dwell on a deeply troubled version of the young poet due to her well-documented difficulties with depression and the <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49000/lady-lazarus">morbid imagery</a> found in some of her poetry. So the idea that nature inspired her writing may come as a surprise. </p>
<p>This despairing Plath is a far cry from the poet I have come to know and admire – a poet who writes about the <a href="https://mywordinyourear.com/2021/10/22/watercolour-of-grantchester-meadows-sylvia-plath-comments/">simple beauty of meadows</a> and the <a href="https://allpoetry.com/poem/8498359-Mushrooms-by-Sylvia-Plath">tenacity of fungi</a> as well as the splendours of <a href="https://allpoetry.com/Two-Campers-In-Cloud-Country">rugged wilderness</a>.</p>
<p>Plath’s fascination with the natural world began in childhood, as she makes clear in her essay <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/ocean-1212-w-by-sylvia-plath">Ocean 1212-W</a>, in which she details the importance of the sea to her poetic imagination. This interest in nature continued into adulthood, when she read the work of biologists such as Rachel Carson, whom she writes about in her <a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/journal/on-sylvia-plaths-letters/">letters</a>.</p>
<p>Any other poet with this background would at least be credited with a passing interest in the natural world. However, Plath’s untimely death by suicide has skewed much interpretation of her poetry. The well-versed argument that Plath only uses nature in her poetry as a “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-iG8AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false*%22">mirror to look deeper into herself</a>, has pervaded critical writing on her work from the 1960s to the 21st century.</p>
<p>It is this blinkered view of Plath which has led to an oversight of the ecological significance of her poetry. As we move past the 60th anniversary of Plath’s death, it is time to embrace more nuanced interpretations of her work and to reimagine what her poetic legacy might look like.</p>
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<h2>Grand-scale natural beauty</h2>
<p>Plath loved the vast landscapes of national parks as well as smaller-scale wildernesses like those of England’s Yorkshire moors. In letters from 1956, she describes "the great luminous emerald lights” of the Yorkshire countryside, concluding that she has “never been so happy” in her life as among the “wild, purple moors”.</p>
<p>These excerpts from her letters resonate with the celebratory assertion in the poem <a href="https://allpoetry.com/Wuthering-Heights">Wuthering Heights</a> that “there is no life higher than the grasstops or the hearts of sheep”.</p>
<p>She found similar beauty in the national parks of America and Canada, which she visited in the summer of 1959. In letters from this period, she remarks that she has never seen “such wonderful country anywhere in the world”. No doubt these experiences inspired the sublime depiction of the “dominance of rocks and woods” and “man-shaming clouds” in the poem <a href="https://allpoetry.com/Two-Campers-In-Cloud-Country">Two Campers in Cloud Country</a> as well as the spectacular “splurge of vermilions” she describes in the sunsets over Algonquin National Park in Canada.</p>
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<h2>Beauty in smaller places</h2>
<p>However, it is not these grand poetic depictions of the natural world which resonate the most with me. Even the most ardent city enthusiast can pause for a moment of wonder in front of millennia-old mountains, but few among us can render the seemingly prosaic aspects of the natural world with the lyrical grandeur evident in much of her writing.</p>
<p>Plath’s <a href="https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/reviving-the-journals-of-sylvia-plath">journal entries</a>, written from the Yaddo writers’ retreat in upstate New York in the autumn of 1959, demonstrate a sensitive interest in small details of the natural world which many deem mundane or insignifcant. Coming across a patch of toadstools in the gardens at Yaddo, she observes these “round battering rams” with their “orange ruddy tops” and “pale lemon stems”.</p>
<p>Her poem <a href="https://allpoetry.com/poem/8498359-Mushrooms-by-Sylvia-Plath">Mushrooms</a> captures much of this detail with the “soft fists” of the mushrooms which heave aside the garden “bedding”. “Nobody sees us”, the collective voice of the mushrooms in the poem declares, before claiming:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We shall by morning<br>
Inherit the earth.<br>
Our foot’s in the door. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this poem, Plath emphasises the magnificent elements of the natural world that many of us overlook or disregard. She highlights the dangers, as environmental historian <a href="https://williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness_Main.html">William Cronon suggests</a>, in appreciating only the kind of big majestic landscapes found in national parks. By doing so, Plath infers, we neglect the significance of nature in more familiar and ordinary places.</p>
<p>While Plath may well be remembered for the melancholic despair of <a href="https://allpoetry.com/Sheep-In-Fog">Sheep in Fog</a> or the angry, flame-haired women of poems such as <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49000/lady-lazarus">Lady Lazarus</a>, it is also important that she is remembered for the ecological significance of her writing.</p>
<p>Despite personal difficulties in her marriage and worsening mental health, Plath’s interest in nature continued to inspire much of her late poetry. Her 1962 poem <a href="https://genius.com/Sylvia-plath-among-the-narcissi-annotated">Among the Narcissi</a>, for example, captures a poignant but ordinary moment of kinship between an elderly man, who loves the “little flocks” of flowers in his garden, and the flowers themselves who “look up” from the flowerbeds towards him, “like children”.</p>
<p>Just like the small flock of lilac crocuses I was surprised to find growing amid the broken paving in my own much-neglected garden, Plath’s poetry continually surprises me with its uncanny ability to see the unseen in nature. Such deeply felt attunement to nature deserves to be recognised as part of the rich and multifaceted legacy of her work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nassim Jalali does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Plath’s sublime nature poetry deserves widespread appreciation for its unfettered joy and deep attunement to the natural world.Nassim Jalali, Final year PhD student researching Sylvia Plath's nature poetry, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1997762023-02-14T02:39:51Z2023-02-14T02:39:51ZA rose by any other name – how roses and cut flowers became a symbol of love and luxury<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509907/original/file-20230213-20-kb2qti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3682&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before the creation of international systems of cultivation and the ability to move goods by air freight, flowers matched the pattern of the seasons. Roses on Saint Valentine’s Day were something unexpected, and very expensive. </p>
<p>In very old age, in 1989, the late Queen Mother wrote a letter about her youth: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I remember dancing with a nice young American at Lady Powis’ ball in Berkeley Square (aged 17) and the amazement and thrill when the next day a huge bunch of red roses arrived! In those days flowers were very rare! </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Where does the tradition of flower gifts come from and do they pose risks for an ecologically aware world today?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509910/original/file-20230213-28-8wn940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vase of Flowers in a Window, Ambrosius Bosschaert (1618)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public Domain</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Roses in culture and society</h2>
<p>A Roman <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-real-st-valentine-was-no-patron-of-love-90518">murdered for his religion</a> on February 14, AD 269, St Valentine was promoted by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century as a figure of courtly romance. The red rose therefore signals blood and sacrifice as well as devotion. The tradition of flowers having anything to do with love came to the West much later than the classical world.</p>
<p>Many of our beautiful roses descend from enormously tall, single-petalled specimens originally found in south central and northern China. Simple versions are also found in Europe and North Africa. They required crossings and hybridisation to produce the many lush varieties we enjoy today. We could say the flower that we call natural has been for centuries a product of conquest and commerce.</p>
<p>The rose – so spectacular for its thorny beauty – was all over early floral decorations. In Greek mythology it was woven into the fabric that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Andromache-Greek-mythology">Andromache made for Hector</a> at the time of his death in Troy. </p>
<p>Commercial trade in flowers began as early as Hellenistic times. Egypt grew mass-produced blooms and shipped them long-distance for ritual, including wearing garland crowns.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509912/original/file-20230213-22-q1lply.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hector and Andromache - Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1675-1741)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early Christians were suspicious of flowers</h2>
<p>Greek and Roman men and women wore floral crowns later presented as offerings to the dead. This was too pagan for the early Christian Church. St Jerome and St Ambrose were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/457733">suspicious about flowers on tombs</a>. They raised concerns of luxury. The rose was doubly suspect as it was linked to the Crown of Thorns worn at the Crucifixion. The evil Roman Emperor Heliogabalus was said to have <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/object-of-intrigue-roses-of-heliogabalus">smothered his diners with roses and violets</a> released from a false glass ceiling. Exotic flowers were about decadence, not virtue.</p>
<p>The foundations of botany emerged within both ancient China and Greece.
Knowledge of plants plummeted after the fall of the classical world in the West. Islam and the Near East were less disrupted by the decline of cities and had rich traditions of cultivation and botanical trade, notably in the 8th and 9th centuries AD. The rose appears stylised in the famous Persian carpets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rich-history-of-our-love-affair-with-luxury-192732">The rich history of our love affair with luxury</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>China, called by plant collectors the “flowering land”, had one of the most diverse floral resources, a result of its geology and great horticultural expertise encouraged by the literati class. From China came the azalea, the camellia, chrysanthemum, magnolia and new types of rose. </p>
<p>In China flowers were uniformly positive. “Hua” can mean a blossom, a firework, a decorative border or a cotton print, or it can refer to women and courtesans. Han ladies wore large flowers in their hair, either fresh or artificial, and their make-up included flowers and petals. Courtesans, some of whom worked on flower-filled barges, were named after blooms.</p>
<p>Roses were rehabilitated in the Christian West in the 12th century. Within Gothic art, the stained-glass rose window of the cathedral itself resembled that flower.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509916/original/file-20230213-24-qm8f5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A detail of Chinese artist Ma Yuan’s On a Mountain Path in Spring. 1190-1225 CE. Ink and colour on silk. (National Museum, Taipei, Taiwan).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public Domain</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Men liked flowers as much as women</h2>
<p>Thirteenth-century French romances describe young men wearing clothes embroidered with flowers, and during this period the Paris guild of hatters produced hats for men decorated with peacock feathers and fresh flowers. Young men decorating their straw hats with flowers in summer remains a tradition at the famous English school Eton.</p>
<p>Flower painting emerges as an independent European form in the Ghent-Bruges School of manuscript decorators after 1475. Many Flemish painters specialised in paintings of the Virgin surrounded by a garland or wreath. The inclusion of bees, butterflies, insects and worms was a reminder of the transience of life, a memento mori. </p>
<p>Flowers underlined the contrast between internal and external beauty typical of classical sources. Sixth-century Roman philosopher <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anicius-Manlius-Severinus-Boethius">Boethius</a> wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The beauty of things is fleet and swift, more fugitive than the passing of flowers in Spring". Here is the explanation why we are so fascinated by flowers, they are about life, but at the same time, death and decay.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By the 17th century, flowering plants were established as essential luxuries for rulers and merchants. Collectors and patrons travelled between notable botanical centres including Prague, London, Leiden, Brussels, Antwerp, Middleburg, Milan and Paris to engage with this new science and form of collecting. This, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/06/jack-goody">ethnologist Jack Goody</a> claims, was an expert system that led to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221012-the-flowers-that-send-a-hidden-message">floriography</a> – the European language of flowers. The red rose is love, the white rose devotion. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1095&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1095&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509918/original/file-20230213-29-eg0oa1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1095&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">French Rose and Apple, Joris Hoefnagel (1561–1562).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Too true, too perfect’: nineteenth-century fashion and flowers</h2>
<p>In 19th-century Paris the flower market expanded to a twice-weekly format with corner booths, spiced with the erotic charms of the flower sellers who worked the streets. </p>
<p>Large blooms such as lilacs, Easter lilies and the large, perfumed Bourbon roses were the height of luxury. Flowers had shorter seasons and were scarcer than now, although the rich endeavoured to force plants in their private hothouses. The cult of flowers was significant. There were 100 florists in St Petersburg in 1912 – trains carried out-of-season blooms up on the St Petersburg-Paris-Nice express.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509919/original/file-20230213-14-cwzbwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A flower market on the Seine by George Fraipont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mature women were not to use real flowers, the prerogative of youth, but rather artificial ones dispersed in their textiles and made in ornamental fabrics. </p>
<p>Today, flowers can be purchased at corner supermarkets every day. Most of what you see in stores is not grown locally. Much of it has been grown in South America or South Africa, shipped up to the Dutch wholesale markets, then flown back to the southern hemisphere. Flower cultivation uses large amounts of water and pesticides and often proceeds with low-paid labour in the developing world. Many of us could grow a few flowers ourselves, and get back to the simplicity of our grandparents’ generation, when flowers were scarce and also cherished. </p>
<p>If your flowers have not arrived for Valentines’ Day, remember this: Mizza Bricard, who worked for Christian Dior in the 1950s, once noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>when a man asks who is your favourite florist, say my florist is Cartier.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter McNeil received funding on Luxury from The Leverhulme Trust. The opening of this essay has been workshopped with Prof Giorgio Riello.</span></em></p>In the past, roses on Saint Valentine’s Day were something unexpected, and very expensive.Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942782022-12-02T16:27:41Z2022-12-02T16:27:41ZWhat David Hockney’s new exhibition can teach us about finding beauty and joy this winter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496995/original/file-20221123-22-1g258k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C8%2C1484%2C853&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hockney's 25th of June 2022, Looking at the Flowers (Framed).
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.annelyjudafineart.co.uk/exhibitions/352-david-hockney-20-flowers-and-some-bigger-pictures/overview/">Annely Juda Fine Art</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>David Hockney’s new exhibition finds beauty in the most local of places: the home. His new series, <a href="https://www.annelyjudafineart.co.uk/exhibitions/352-david-hockney-20-flowers-and-some-bigger-pictures/works/">20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures</a>, is about the pleasure of looking intensely at what is in front of us. </p>
<p>At home in <a href="https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/david-hockney-normandy/">Normandy</a> during lockdown in 2021, Hockney turned <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bigger-Message-Conversations-David-Hockney/dp/0500238871">what he describes as</a> his ability to “see things clearer and clearer”, into drawing the 3D delicacy of flowers in a vase on the flat surface of his iPad.</p>
<p>One of Britain’s most significant 20th-century artists, Hockney was born in Bradford in 1937. He became fashionable in the swinging London of the 1960s, holding status as an exotic northerner against the capital’s urbane backcloth. After a visit to southern California in 1964, he became popularly associated with this period with his homoerotic stylised <a href="https://www.christies.com/features/David-Hockney-Portrait-of-an-Artist-Pool-with-Two-Figures-9372-3.aspx">swimming pool paintings</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Swimming pool with swimmer and hills in background with a man standing watch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497013/original/file-20221123-16-gxhs5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which sold for US$90.3 million in November 2018 to become one of the most expensive works of art by a living artist ever sold at auction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.christies.com/features/David-Hockney-Portrait-of-an-Artist-Pool-with-Two-Figures-9372-3.aspx">Christies</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Still artistically prolific at 85, sartorially elegant and with dry humour, he recently declared he was “<a href="https://observer.com/2021/11/david-hockney-is-sick-of-wellness-culture-and-still-loves-cigarettes-just-like-you/">bored with wellbeing</a>” instead defending the right to pleasure – in his case, smoking cigarettes. Hockney has been based in Normandy since 2020, choosing to live in northern France for the quality of light in the region and as a peaceful place to work. </p>
<h2>Art and upheaval</h2>
<p>Hockney spent much of the COVID lockdown in near isolation in his 17th-century country home in Normandy. He used the time to watch and record the changing seasons on his iPad, with much of his work from this time offering inspiration for his latest exhibition. </p>
<p>This can be seen in 30th May 2020, From the Studio, one of the larger works in his new exhibition, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5jC1ZHv2UM">20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures exhibition</a>. This piece clearly demonstrates Hockney’s ability to see texture, colour and form within the four walls of the home and the surrounding space of the garden and outbuildings.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/knFxFVI3HQs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Hockney’s works in 20 Flowers mark a return to his obsession with the act of looking. His centrepiece for the exhibition, 25th of June 2022, Looking at the Flowers (Framed), is a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-david-hockney-review-20190314-story.html">photographic drawing</a> of himself times two, looking at a wall filled with his framed still lifes. </p>
<p>From a series of individual photographs, Hockney constructs a seamless panorama that defies the natural parameters of time and space. This relates to Hockney’s disappointment with photography, a medium he has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/oct/08/david-hockney-new-5-metre-digital-artwork-self-portrait">spoken about many times</a> as being limited to only capturing an instant in time from a single point of view. </p>
<p>For Hackney, the artist’s eye holds something more special. A celebrated <a href="https://www.bl.uk/people/david-hockney">draftsman</a> who has been trained to look, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bigger-Message-Conversations-David-Hockney/dp/0500238871">Hockney argues</a> that “we see with memory” and with our emotions. Indeed, artists have the potential to document how places and objects affect us and move us emotionally.</p>
<h2>Hockney’s north</h2>
<p>Hockney’s body of work has always maintained affection for visual beauty in place – whether at home or in landscapes. His 2012 series, <a href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/david-hockney-a-bigger-picture">A Bigger Picture</a>, peeled open a part of Yorkshire <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Issues-Regional-Identity-Honour-Marshall/dp/0719050286">relatively unknown</a>, even to northerners: the East Wolds, which are low hills spread across the East Riding of Yorkshire and north Yorkshire. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Painting of trees in a wood in bright colours." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497000/original/file-20221123-16-ztb31l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">David Hockney, The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/david-hockney-a-bigger-picture">David Hockney/Jonathan Wilkinson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1997 Hockney moved back to the Yorkshire coast when his friend Jonathan Silver was dying of cancer. Drives to Bradford took him through the small villages dotted through the rolling Wolds. </p>
<p>My first view of these paintings was on TV in 2010, when I watched Bruno Wollheim’s documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1768919/">David Hockney: A Bigger Picture</a> and saw the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln1eQjsPoX4">suite of paintings</a> called <a href="https://www.visiteastyorkshire.co.uk/information/product-catch-all/woldgate-woods-hockney-location-p1354581">Woldgate Woods</a> unfolding the changing seasons in crisp high definition. I found myself in my lounge, incredibly moved by the exquisite atmosphere of woods from May to December. It was then that <a href="https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/3893/">I decided to research</a> how other people from Yorkshire responded to this series of works. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sH__5axdUQA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Historically landscape beauty in art has more usually been associated with the <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719051784/">home counties in the south of England</a> than with Yorkshire. But what my research found was that people used Hockney’s paintings to transform their north from somewhere often portrayed as dour and grimy into a place of <a href="https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/3893/">untapped beauty</a>. Delighted by his prodigal return from the US as a “Bradford lad”, they saw him as a cultural ambassador promoting the north’s place in the galleries of the metropolitan centre. </p>
<p>Importantly, I found that many people held an appreciation of curating Hockney’s prints within their own homes, rather than seeing his work in a gallery setting. Woven into the routine of moving through corridors and rooms, his prints could be walked past, looked at and engaged with by their owners and other family members in the relaxed and intimate space of warm, domestic familiarity. </p>
<p>In this way, Hockney’s works acted like a form of art kinship within the home. And I believe that these new works can be used by viewers in the same way. </p>
<p>The artist has in the past spoken about the act of observing his first still life, “it looked very beautiful to me. Other people commented on it, it seemed to jump off the wall.” In his creations, I feel Hockney is asking us to look and see the detail. He may even be asking us to draw and paint it ourselves. Either way, his fresh, vibrant drawings offer beauty to help us cope in difficult times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hockney’s 20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures depict joy in the humdrum of domesticity.Lisa Taylor, Head of Media, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910802022-09-29T20:04:30Z2022-09-29T20:04:30ZLet’s show a bit of love for the lillipilly. This humble plant forms the world’s largest genus of trees – and should be an Australian icon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487088/original/file-20220928-17-90tsrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’re probably familiar with the sight of a lillipilly bush. This hardy Australian staple – a glossy evergreen bearing powder-puff flowers and clusters of bright berries – features in many a garden hedge. </p>
<p>But you may not know this humble native has spread across the globe in waves of emigration, adaptation and evolution. Almost 1,200 species of lillipilly are now found in rainforests across the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Asia and the Pacific. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32637-x">research</a> helped reconstruct the evolutionary history of lillipillies in unprecedented detail. We show how lillipillies evolved in Australia and now form the largest genus of trees in the world. </p>
<p>Lillipillies are one of Australia’s great gifts to the natural world. But the story of these homegrown heroes may be taking a grim turn.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="bright magenta berries on green bush" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487089/original/file-20220928-24-1o1saa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Show off: the lillipilly is a glossy evergreen bearing clusters of bright berries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A plant on the move</h2>
<p>Lillipillies began their international adventures about 17 million years ago. At that time, the Australian continent (which together with New Guinea is known as the Sahul Shelf) was colliding with Southeast Asia (known as the Sunda Shelf) following its breakup with Antarctica. This breakup was the final dramatic act of the fragmentation of Gondwana. </p>
<p>The collision provided opportunity for biotic exchange between the northern and southern hemispheres. Many plants and animals moved south to the Sahul Shelf and prospered in the new lands. Lillipillies are one of the few lineages that moved in the other direction.</p>
<p>Along with our <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-songbirds-island-hopped-their-way-from-australia-to-colonise-the-world-64616">songbirds</a>, lillipillies stand as a rare example of an Australian group that set out from these shores and achieved major evolutionary success abroad. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="buttefly sits on flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487090/original/file-20220928-22-29ync8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lillipillies are a magnet for pollinators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lillipillies light up our lives when they flower and fruit. Their showy white, cream or red flowers are followed by succulent red or purple berries. They’re a magnet for pollinators, helping fill our gardens with the songs of insects and birds. </p>
<p>The riberry, <em>Syzygium luehmannii</em>, is one of the most commonly grown and stunning garden species. It produces heavy crops of delicious fruit <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2007.03.007">rich in antioxidants</a> and prized by chefs. </p>
<p>Many species in the genus are used as food and medicine by Indigenous people, and <a href="https://phcogcommn.org/article/873">potent antibacterials</a> have been identified in the leaves of some species. Cloves, a favourite spice of home bakers, are the dried flower buds of an Indonesian lillipilly – the aptly named <em>Syzygium aromaticum</em>. </p>
<p>About <a href="https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/search/taxonomy?product=APC&tree.id=51209179&name=Syzygium&inc._scientific=&inc.scientific=on&inc._cultivar=&max=100&display=apc&search=true">75 species</a> of lillipilly are native to all Australian states and territories except South Australia and Tasmania. </p>
<p>The greatest concentration of species is in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of northeast Queensland. <a href="https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/search.htm?zoom_query=Syzygium">About 50</a> species are found there, half of which occur nowhere else on Earth. </p>
<p>And almost 1,200 species of lillipilly are now found in rainforests across the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, including Australia.</p>
<p>As is common in the tropics, species new to science are regularly discovered and named. For example, <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nhn/blumea/2021/00000066/00000001/art00003">almost 30 new species</a> of lillipilly have been named from New Guinea in the last two years – and many more are likely awaiting scientific discovery.</p>
<p>But how did lillipillies achieve such international success? Our research team decided to find out. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-noisy-miners-to-be-less-despotic-think-twice-before-filling-your-garden-with-nectar-rich-flowers-190226">Want noisy miners to be less despotic? Think twice before filling your garden with nectar-rich flowers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="yellow flowers on green bush" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487092/original/file-20220928-12-h323i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The powder-puff flowers of lillipillies light up our lives when they flower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Peering into the past</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32637-x">research</a>, led by colleagues in Singapore, involved analysing the genomes of hundreds of living species of lillipillies.</p>
<p>Similarities and differences in the structure of genomes can reveal how closely related the species are. Using that knowledge, we can build up a picture of their genealogy - the “family tree” that connects ancestral species and their descendants. </p>
<p>These techniques also allow us to estimate the amount of genetic change that has occurred along the branches of the genealogy. And, if we’re lucky enough to have an accurately dated fossil of an ancestral species – as we do for lillipillies – we can calculate the rate of genetic change even more accurately.</p>
<p>All this allowed us to peer deeply into the past and reveal the events that set the lillipillies on their global journey.</p>
<p>We already knew lillipillies <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790315002110">evolved</a> in Australia and emigrated into the rainforests of Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Our research showed this dispersion occurred in at least a dozen distinct waves. </p>
<p>Each emigrant lineage diversified rapidly and successfully in its new environment. This resulted in the nearly 1,200 lillipilly species found worldwide today – more than any other tree genus. In contrast, their relatives the eucalypts have largely remained only a local success story. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-50-beautiful-australian-plants-at-greatest-risk-of-extinction-and-how-to-save-them-160362">The 50 beautiful Australian plants at greatest risk of extinction — and how to save them</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="dirt road winds through stand of eucalypts" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487095/original/file-20220928-6110-ku3e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s eucalypts haven’t conquered the world as lillipillies have.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A sad twist?</h2>
<p>Lillipillies may be one of Australia’s most successful botanical exports, but their future, like that of many rainforest plants globally, is threatened by habitat degradation and climate change.</p>
<p>The Magenta Cherry (<em>Syzygium paniculatum</em>), for example, is <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10794">endangered</a> by coastal development in New South Wales. And the Brotherly Love Lillipilly (<em>Syzygium fratris</em>), found only on Queensland’s highest mountain, is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000632071530029X">highly vulnerable</a> to climate change.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="yellow fungus on green leaves" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487099/original/file-20220928-16-qwyz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Myrtle rust – seen here on lillypilly leaves – may be the most potent threat of all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But a devastating disease – myrtle rust - may be the most potent threat of all. It’s caused by an introduced fungal pathogen and kills new foliage, flowers and fruits of plants in the family Myrtaceae, to which lillipillies belong.</p>
<p>Myrtle rust arrived in Australia in 2010 and spread rapidly in the wind and via human activity. Already, it threatens <a href="https://www.apbsf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/PBSF-Myrtle-Rust-National-Action-Plan-2020.pdf">some plant species</a> with extinction. Lillipilly species have been damaged by this serious disease, though none are under immediate extinction threat yet. </p>
<p>Lillipillies are an Australian origin story. They’re a major contributor to rainforest biodiversity and important to Indigenous cultures. And they’ve endeared themselves to generations of gardeners and cooks. </p>
<p>Given all this, lillipillies deserve to be recognised – and protected – as Aussie icons.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-threatens-up-to-100-of-trees-in-australian-cities-and-most-urban-species-worldwide-188807">Climate change threatens up to 100% of trees in Australian cities, and most urban species worldwide</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darren Crayn receives funding from the Australian Government and the Queensland Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Worboys receives funding from the Ian Potter Foundation. This grant sponsored the collecting field work which contributed to this paper.</span></em></p>Lillipillies are one of Australia’s great gifts to the natural world. But the story of these homegrown heroes may be taking a grim turn.Darren Crayn, Professor and Director, Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook UniversityStuart Worboys, Laboratory and Technical Support Officer, Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816722022-04-21T12:18:01Z2022-04-21T12:18:01ZAchoo! 5 essential reads for pollen season<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458973/original/file-20220420-14894-m6e6re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6016%2C4007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Common hazel dispersing pollen in early spring. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/common-hazel-close-up-of-male-catkins-dispersing-pollen-in-news-photo/971552142">Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As spring expands across North America, trees, shrubs and flowers are releasing <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/pollen">pollen</a>. This fine, powdery substance is produced by the male structures of cone-bearing and flowering plants. When it’s carried to the plants’ female structures by wind, water or pollinators, fertilization happens. </p>
<p>As pollen travels, it also triggers allergies in <a href="https://www.aafa.org/allergy-facts/#">some 25 million Americans</a>. Pollen exposure can cause sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes, runny nose and postnasal drip – unwelcome signs of spring for sufferers. This roundup of articles from our archives describes recent findings on protecting pollinators and coping with pollen season.</p>
<h2>1. Hey pollinators, over here</h2>
<p>Since pollen grains carry the cells that fertilize plants, it’s critical for them to get where they need to go. Often wind or gravity is all it takes, but for many plants, a pollinator has to carry the pollen grains. Some plants offer nectar or edible pollen to attract insects, bats or other animals, which carry pollen from plant to plant as they forage. Many flowers also <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-flowers-smell-151672">lure pollinators with scent</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bee flying, coated with bright yellow particles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458976/original/file-20220420-25-8bves7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A thistle long-horned bee (<em>Melissodes desponsa</em>) covered with flower pollen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/D8E563">Dejen Mengis, USGS</a></span>
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<p>“Similar to the perfumes at a department store counter, flower scents are made up from a large and diverse number of chemicals which evaporate easily and float through the air,” writes Mississippi State University horticulturalist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dJ8gD7MAAAAJ&hl=en">Richard L. Harkess</a>. “To differentiate itself from other flowers, each species’ flowers put out a unique scent to attract specific pollinators. … Once pollinated, the flower stops producing a floral scent and nectar and redirects its energy to the fertilized embryo that will become the seed.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-flowers-smell-151672">Why do flowers smell?</a>
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<h2>2. Bees at the buffet</h2>
<p>It’s well known that many species of insects have <a href="https://theconversation.com/insect-apocalypse-not-so-fast-at-least-in-north-america-141107">declined in recent years</a>. One big focus is <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/honey-bees/honeybees">honeybees</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-honey-bees-wild-bees-are-also-key-pollinators-and-some-species-are-disappearing-89214">other species of bees</a>, which pollinate many important crops. </p>
<p>In a 2021 study, University of Florida agricultural extension specialist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I8IjAnIAAAAJ&hl=en">Hamutahl Cohen</a> found that when bees visited fields where sunflowers, grown as crops, were blooming over many acres, they <a href="https://theconversation.com/planting-mixes-of-flowers-around-farm-fields-helps-keep-bees-healthy-170527">picked up parasites at a high rate</a>. In contrast, bees that foraged in hedgerows around crop fields and could choose from diverse types of flowers to feed on spread out farther and had lower rates of infection. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diverse shrubs in a planted border with inset photos of beneficial insects that they attract." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458979/original/file-20220420-18-33gaht.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hedgerows like this one in California have been shown to increase the number of beneficial insects like (left to right) lady beetles, syrphid flies and their larvae, shown feeding on aphids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ucanr.edu/sites/calagjournal/archive/?image=img6504p200.jpg">UCANR</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>“The more bees in sunflower fields, the more parasites,” Cohen observed. “Sunflower blooms were aggregating bees, which in turn was amplifying disease risk.” However, “in the presence of many flower types, bees disperse and spread across resources, reducing each individual bee’s likelihood of encountering an infected individual.” </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/planting-mixes-of-flowers-around-farm-fields-helps-keep-bees-healthy-170527">Planting mixes of flowers around farm fields helps keep bees healthy</a>
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</em>
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<h2>3. Warmer weather means more pollen</h2>
<p>As climate change raises average temperatures across the U.S., growing seasons are starting earlier and ending later in the year. That’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/pollen-season-is-getting-longer-and-more-intense-with-climate-change-heres-what-allergy-sufferers-can-expect-in-the-future-179158">bad news for allergy sufferers</a>. </p>
<p>“The higher temperature will extend the growing season, giving plants more time to emit pollen and reproduce,” write University of Michigan atmospheric scientists <a href="https://clasp.engin.umich.edu/people/zhang-yingxiao/">Yingxiao Zhang</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3dWPwz8AAAAJ&hl=en">Allison L. Steiner</a>. And by increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere, climate change will make it possible for plants to grow larger and generate more pollen. </p>
<p>“Southeastern regions, including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, can expect large grass and weed pollen increases in the future. The Pacific Northwest is likely to see peak pollen season a month earlier because of the early pollen season of alder,” Zhang and Steiner report.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pollen-season-is-getting-longer-and-more-intense-with-climate-change-heres-what-allergy-sufferers-can-expect-in-the-future-179158">Pollen season is getting longer and more intense with climate change – here's what allergy sufferers can expect in the future</a>
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<h2>4. Providing better forecasts</h2>
<p>With all that pollen out there, how can allergy sufferers know when counts are high? Today the U.S. has only a rudimentary network of 90 pollen observation stations across the country, staffed by volunteers and run only during pollen season, so often there isn’t good information available when people need it.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sUwveOEAAAAJ&hl=en">Fiona Lo</a>, an environmental health scientist at the University of Washington, is working with colleagues to develop a model that can predict airborne pollen releases. “Our forecast can predict for specific pollen types because our model includes information about how each plant type interacts differently with the environment,” Lo reports.</p>
<p>So far, the model only predicts levels of four types of common pollen in areas where there are observation stations. Ultimately, though, Lo and her collaborators “want to provide a forecast every day during pollen season to give allergy sufferers the information they need to manage their symptoms. Allergies are often undertreated, and knowledge about self-care is limited, so a reliable pollen forecast that is easy to access – for example, via an app on your phone – along with education on allergy management, could really help allergy sufferers.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sunny-with-a-chance-of-sneezing-im-building-a-tool-to-forecast-pollen-levels-that-will-help-allergy-sufferers-know-when-its-safe-to-go-outside-162073">Sunny with a chance of sneezing – I'm building a tool to forecast pollen levels that will help allergy sufferers know when it's safe to go outside</a>
</strong>
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<h2>5. Support pollinators in your garden</h2>
<p>Pollen season is also gardening season, since it’s when plants are blooming. West Virginia University mycologist <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian-Lovett">Brian Lovett</a> offers advice for gardeners who want to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-help-insects-make-them-welcome-in-your-garden-heres-how-153609">attract beneficial insects to their yards</a> for pollination and other purposes. </p>
<p>One step is to replace grass with native wildflowers, which will provide pollen and nectar for insects like ants, bees and butterflies. “Just as you may have a favorite local restaurant, insects that live around you have a taste for the flowers that are native to their areas,” Lovett notes.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Striped black and yellow butterfly feeding on purple flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458980/original/file-20220420-13790-30cq5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Swallowtail butterflies, shown here on a liatris flower in Washington state, are efficient pollinators that can be attracted to home gardens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/swallowtail-butterfly-on-a-liatris-spicata-flower-in-july-news-photo/624174230">Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Replacing white lightbulbs with yellow or warm-hued LED bulbs, and providing water in dishes or other containers, are also insect-friendly steps. Local university extension offices and gardening stores can offer other suggestions. </p>
<p>“In my view, humans all too often see ourselves as separate from nature, which leads us to relegate biodiversity to designated parks,” Lovett observes. “In fact, however, we are an important part of the natural world, and we need insects just as much as they need us.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-help-insects-make-them-welcome-in-your-garden-heres-how-153609">To help insects, make them welcome in your garden – here's how</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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Pollen brings seasonal misery to millions of Americans, but it serves a critical purpose: fertilizing many kinds of plants, including food crops.Jennifer Weeks, Senior Environment + Cities Editor, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1808412022-04-11T16:12:30Z2022-04-11T16:12:30ZHow climate change stresses plants and alters their growth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456690/original/file-20220406-18446-30zzt7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4089%2C2035&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Climate change stresses plants, forcing them to turn off the cellular machinery that helps them grow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plants that inhabit the Earth have the incredible ability to grow continually for hundreds of years, and always towards the light of the sun, which provides them with the necessary energy to sprout. </p>
<p>At the source of this growth are changes in their environment, such as variations in light, temperature and humidity. But new stimuli from current climate changes are disrupting the normal growth of plants.</p>
<p>As a doctoral candidate in biochemistry at the University of Québec in Montréal, I am interested in the structure of plant proteins, and study the ways plants adapt to environmental stresses (drought, cold, deficiencies) at the molecular level in order to select more resilient variants for agriculture.</p>
<h2>The unmatched longevity of Pando</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03963.x">oldest forest on the planet</a>, called Pando, is 80,000 years old. Located in Utah it contains 40,000 genetically identical (clones) of quaking, or trembling, aspen trees. The colony communicates via a single root network.</p>
<p>Pando is considered to be the oldest living organism in the world. This colony originated <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj9496">30,000 years before the first <em>Homo sapiens</em> settled in Europe</a>. Pando, therefore, has borne witness to the totality of modern human life: <a href="https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009.04.66/">the empires of China and Rome</a>, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/popular-books/aboriginal-people-canadian-military/world-wars.html">world wars</a> and also to humanity’s greatest feats.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454832/original/file-20220328-15-281h9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Identical quaking aspen trees in Fishlake National Forest, Utah. At 80,000 years old, Pando is one of the oldest forests in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nonetheless, the colony’s poplars have not grown nonstop for 80,000 years. On the one hand, their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2011.03.051">development is orchestrated by the seasons</a>. On the other hand, they must control their developmental growth according to their needs and physical capacities to face external aggressions. By disrupting external environmental stimuli, the <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3124/global-climate-change-impact-on-crops-expected-within-10-years-nasa-study-finds/">current climate crisis directly</a> affects this normal growth regulation.</p>
<h2>The secret of plant growth is buried in the cell</h2>
<p>Plants form new organs such as leaves, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0070-2153(10)91002-8">flowers or roots, as needed to respond</a> to an external stimulus from the environment. For example, a change in the light exposure period during spring <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01636">triggers flowering</a>. </p>
<p>These stimuli target the DNA by activating specific genes for the development of each organ to form an adult plant. DNA is comparable to a dictionary of genes that contains the code for the physical peculiarities of the plant. These genes are the living words that must be read to express their meaning, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.49.1.127">information they contain</a>.</p>
<p>From seed germination to flower reproduction and the formation of stems, roots and leaves, all the stages of plant development and growth are due to a gene reading phenomenon. To read the genes, specific activators are needed for each of the words. If the environmental conditions change and are conducive to growth, then these activators position themselves at the front of the gene to read and express it, and lead to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3291">specific growth of the organ encoded by the gene</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Diagram showing how growth activators can boost gene exptression." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457183/original/file-20220408-42486-hgjtw1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gene activation is linked to plant growth thanks to the actions of growth activators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Souleïmen Jmii)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>DELLA proteins determine growth</h2>
<p>Plants cannot afford to grow indefinitely because of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6308(12)60045-6">energy costs of growth</a>. In addition, similar to animals that hibernate, plants stop growing during the winter, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.171.3966.29">becoming dormant</a> to survive the season. To do this, plants block the reading of genes thanks to safeguards called <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1u4eDAAAQBAJ">DELLA proteins</a>.</p>
<p>Found only in plants, these proteins have been constant throughout evolution. They are found particularly in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7909.2008.00703.x">mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants</a>. DELLAs are located in the cell nucleus, closest to DNA. They are produced continually and can block gene activators.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457184/original/file-20220408-24-ozejr5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growth blocking through the sequestration of activators, thanks to DELLA proteins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Souleïmen Jmii)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To mature, plants must destroy the DELLAs to release the activators. Plants have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcaa113">developed a system for labelling these proteins</a> to influence their destiny in the cell according to their needs. To degrade DELLAs, the cell adds a small protein, called ubiquitin, to its surface. Ubiquitin acts like a postage stamp that tells the cell to deliver the DELLAs to a new destination, a “cellular trash can,” where they will be degraded.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=211&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=211&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457185/original/file-20220408-19484-8tprsb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=211&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The degradation of DELLA proteins through ubiquitin labelling (Ub).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Souleïmen Jmii)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Climate stress blocks DELLA degradation</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2006.11.004">Floods or droughts are increasing</a> all over the planet. Because of their immobility, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sHH8DwAAQBAJ">plants cannot flee from these external attacks</a>. These new environmental parameters stress wild plants and agricultural crops by <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8ImiDwAAQBAJ">disrupting their growth</a>, meaning they must save their energy to survive rather than grow, and must not degrade the DELLA proteins. </p>
<p>This requires the DELLA proteins to be labelled in another way, through a cousin of ubiquitin, which scientists have named SUMO. SUMO replaces ubiquitin, and serves as a life buoy so that it does not get degraded.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452022/original/file-20220314-131609-1iy1zlb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Competition between ubiquitin (Ub) and SUMO at the same labelling site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Souleïmen Jmii)</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, SUMO labelling is done in the exact same place where ubiquitin should be added. The presence of SUMO no longer makes it possible to add ubiquitin, which allows plants to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01122">survive adverse climatic</a> events.</p>
<p>In the current climate crisis, it is important to investigate and understand this plant growth mechanism in the hope of maintaining sustainability in agricultural crops. Researchers are actively working to isolate or select plants capable of rapidly activating SUMO in order to grow under adverse environmental conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180841/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Souleïmen Jmii ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The climate crisis makes it important to investigate and understand the mechanisms of plant growth if we are to keep agricultural crops sustainable.Souleïmen Jmii, Ph.D Biologie structurale / Biochimie végétale, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1705272022-04-05T12:29:53Z2022-04-05T12:29:53ZPlanting mixes of flowers around farm fields helps keep bees healthy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455012/original/file-20220329-17-5fz4qi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4928%2C3245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bees feeding in monoculture fields of single crops such as sunflowers crowd together and pass parasites to one another at high rates.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Ponisio/University of Oregon</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s springtime in California, and bees are emerging to feast on flowering fields – acres upon acres of cultivated almonds, oranges and other fruits and nuts that bloom all at once for just a few weeks. Farmers raise these lucrative crops in monoculture fields, each planted with neat, straight rows of a single type of crop.</p>
<p>The agricultural heart of California is the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. I recently drove north through the valley on Interstate 5, a 450-mile (724-kilometer) stretch of monoculture farms and agricultural land that runs from Bakersfield to Redding. Flowers were blooming as far as the eye could see. There is so much bloom here that commercial beekeepers truck in over 2 million colonies of bees in spring to ensure that every last flower is pollinated.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I8IjAnIAAAAJ&hl=en">bee biologist</a>, I study why bees are <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-honey-bees-wild-bees-are-also-key-pollinators-and-some-species-are-disappearing-89214">dying</a>. Although monoculture blooms provide food for bees, scientists know almost nothing about how temporary mass-bloom events influence bee health. </p>
<p>I wondered whether bees in these monoculture fields were getting sick in the same way a crowd of hungry people with unwashed hands can get sick by converging at a brunch buffet. Imagine not washing your hands after picking up the tong for hash browns – hundreds of times in a row. </p>
<p>I found that bees foraging in monoculture pick up parasites at high rates. Disease is a leading cause of bee decline, so my research indicates that monoculture blooms are a threat to bees. However, I also found that farmers can reduce this threat by taking a page from backyard gardens and planting hedgerows with diverse mixes of flowers.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ogpp7-lksQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Adding flowering plants to their fields is an effective way for farmers to support bees.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Interacting bees can spread disease</h2>
<p>Bees’ main goal in life is to collect pollen and nectar to feed their young. But as bees forage, they are exposed to bacteria, fungi and viruses, which can spread among bees via flowers. </p>
<p>For humans, social interaction or touching shared doorknobs in highly trafficked office buildings can spread viruses and other pathogens. Bee scientists joke that, for bees, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13962">flowers are the dirty office doorknobs</a>. </p>
<p>Artificially providing animals with food can affect the spread of diseases in two ways: It can dilute them or amplify them. When a monoculture crop blooms in a landscape that’s otherwise void of food for bees, it offers an attractive pulse of pollen and nectar. When bees cluster together, disease may be more likely to spread between infected and noninfected bees. </p>
<p>But that’s not automatic. Flowers can feed bees and prop up their immune systems, making them less vulnerable to disease. Disease spread is also hampered if many different bee species are attracted to flowers, because not all bee species harbor all parasite species. </p>
<p>As the mix of bees in the community becomes more diverse, parasites are more likely to encounter unsuitable hosts, breaking up the the chain of transmission. This suggested to my research team that mass blooms could help bees under the right circumstances.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Large white boxes with bees on the outside, stacked near blooming almond trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455053/original/file-20220329-27-188nzbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beehives next to an almond orchard in California’s Central Valley.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/almond-trees-in-spring-bloom-bees-and-beehives-in-almond-news-photo/170485745?">MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Diagnosing disease</h2>
<p>In a study that <a href="http://www.ponisiolab.com/">colleagues</a> and I published in late 2021, we examined whether monoculture blooms attracted bees, and whether this process <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1369">resulted in more disease or less</a>. We then examined whether adding diverse flowers to monoculture farms helped to promote healthy bees.</p>
<p>We studied bees in sunflower fields in California’s Central Valley. Sunflowers are grown for commercial oil manufacturing and rely heavily on pollinators such as honeybees, bumblebees, sunflower bees and sweat bees.</p>
<p>Some of our sunflower study sites were grown as traditional monocultures, while others were grown adjacent to hedgerows, which are flowering strips of perennial plants such as California rose, Mexican elderberry and perennial sages. These hedgerows turn monoculture farms into more diverse systems.</p>
<p>Our team of professors, postdoctoral researchers and students walked through each site with aerial nets, cajoling bees into tiny sterile tubes. Back in the lab, we tested each bee for seven parasites commonly implicated in bee declines using <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/gene-expression-and-regulation/biotechnology/a/polymerase-chain-reaction-pcr">molecular techniques</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455016/original/file-20220329-23-1pzopxs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1340&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A hedgerow planted near monoculture sunflower fields provides bees with other flowers to pollinate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Ponisio/University of Oregon</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bees really like mass-bloom events. We discovered 35 different bee species visiting sunflowers, with their abundance highest at the peak of sunflower bloom. Places with historic legacies of growing sunflowers hosted more abundant bee populations than sites where sunflowers had been planted only recently. Even at farm sites with hedgerows, bees were consistently found foraging on sunflowers at higher numbers than on hedgerows.</p>
<p>But apparently, bee gluttony comes with a cost. We found that these increases in bee abundance were subsequently associated with higher rates of parasitism. Of the individuals we screened, almost half had at least one parasite, and about a third had multiple parasites. The more bees in sunflower fields, the more parasites. Sunflower blooms were aggregating bees, which in turn was amplifying disease risk.</p>
<h2>Nearby hedgerows help bees</h2>
<p>We also found something encouraging: When bees had access to hedgerows that contained many different kinds of flowers, they had lower rates of parasite infections. This suggests that in the presence of many flower types, bees disperse and spread across resources, reducing each individual bee’s likelihood of encountering an infected individual. Flower diversity may also provide immunity benefits to bees through other mechanisms, perhaps by enhancing nutrition.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Agencies, organizations and researchers are working to promote hedgerows and other forms of bee habitat. For example, the nonprofit <a href="https://www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/california">Xerces Society</a> offers farmers a certified “Bee Better” eco-label, which indicates to consumers that the farm has dedicated 5% of its land or more to pollinator habitat. And land-grant institutions such as the <a href="https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8390.pdf">University of California</a>, <a href="https://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/resources/planting-pollinator-habitat/">Cornell University</a> and the <a href="https://ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/resources/apps/bee-gardens/">University of Florida</a> are teaching local communities about plant choices that work best for bees. As an agricultural extension agent, I believe that together, efforts like these can help bring back healthy pollinators by promoting habitat conservation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Research described in this article was supported by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture. </span></em></p>Huge single-crop fields attract bees in such numbers that they spread parasites to one another. Planting diverse mixes of flowers around fields helps spread out pollinators and keep them healthy.Hamutahl Cohen, Extension Agent, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1768252022-02-11T14:53:56Z2022-02-11T14:53:56ZValentine’s Day: the pressures of shopping for romance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445749/original/file-20220210-47794-1lq66us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C35%2C3928%2C2574&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bouquet-dead-red-roses-pewter-vase-445992445">Shutterstock/madorf</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many couples, Valentine’s Day is crunch time. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2004.00095.x?casa_token=dXHKwjSGkmgAAAAA:5tzlar5bS1HruzNIV5g40YchEknu-HqPSedtbh61puhKrdCcKNtA1gZ0RnqQOKoCNTbVwWJh87JsmTyI">Research</a> has shown that romantic relationships are more likely to end on or around February 14 compared to almost any other time of the year. This may be why almost £1 billion is <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/510981/valentines-day-total-spending-great-britain/">expected to be spent</a> in the UK over the next few days on the traditional fare of cards, chocolates and jewellery. </p>
<p>Many of those items will be bought as genuine gestures of affection, or for the more economically minded, as proof that they are invested in the relationship. But the fact that the date has become so commercialised can also be a real turnoff. For while some consider it a cherished day of romantic bliss, to others, February 14 inspires <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985864">feelings of loathing</a> and revulsion. </p>
<p>And if you do choose to partake in the annual celebration, deciding on the right Valentine’s Day gift can be confusing. What does a box of chocolates signify? How many roses does it take to genuinely reflect the appropriate level of devotion? </p>
<p>Rather than feeling that they want to buy something lovely for the person they love, people may feel obliged simply to spend, such is the weight of tradition and expectation.</p>
<p>For many, particularly men, according to research, a subsequent coping mechanism is a shopping style which has been labelled “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022435900000476?casa_token=3S9omdidR-AAAAAA:gadGWE2FZ42GdL4QTSvmyXYd-ADxwCgcUQPYXxrV2odZkU5fA060MUcF4vcL6A7pw16j2DMPvu4">grab and go</a>”. This is when a person enters a store, picks something up, and is ready to pay in as little as 30 seconds. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with roses hidden behind his back approaches a smiling woman ." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445933/original/file-20220211-21-1fehl94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cheesy does it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-loving-couple-spending-time-together-795913363">Shutterstock/4 PM production</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, it has been claimed that women are more likely to have <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1986301">escalating expectations</a>, especially in their 20s, about what they should receive as a Valentine’s gift. </p>
<p>Some who had been in a relatively long-term relationship expected the level of lavishness to increase from year to year. And it is not uncommon for heterosexual women to consider it to be the man’s role to plan and create the perfect day. </p>
<p>For many, that perfection can only be achieved if it comes with the smell of a dozen red roses. Flowers are a big money spinner on Valentine’s Day and in 2019, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/803395/valentine-s-day-expenditure-by-category-united-kingdom-uk/">£261 million</a> was spent on bouquets in the UK. But <a href="https://journals.ashs.org/horttech/view/journals/horttech/23/1/article-p28.xml">research indicates</a> that the chances of receiving a bunch of blooms depend on how the other person views the state of the relationship. </p>
<p>You are apparently more likely to buy flowers if you perceive that your personal needs, such as feeling loved, are being fulfilled. If you are strongly passionate about someone, you’ll probably give flowers in combination with a range of other gifts. Those who said they were “satisfied” with their romantic relationship were the least inclined to buy flowers for their partners. </p>
<h2>Can’t buy me love</h2>
<p>To ease the pressure, then, it is always worth considering a more personal and low-key approach – something that the object of your affection will genuinely appreciate and enjoy. Extravagance isn’t always appreciated, for example, as <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/2829/30166_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">giving branded goods</a> is often received as a commercial gift rather than a message of love. </p>
<p>If you opt to play it safe with a gift card, go for a broad approach. <a href="https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v43/acr_vol43_1020146.pdf">Research shows</a> that tokens for a specific shop or product are less appreciated and often end up unused. </p>
<p>But of course, expressions of love and affection need not be about spending money at all. One <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2501480">survey of 3,000 couples</a> found that those who spent the most on engagement rings and weddings were the quickest to break up. </p>
<p>An alternative approach would be to embrace research that suggests that true happiness comes from spending time with the people you love and <a href="https://myscp.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.jcps.2014.08.004?casa_token=buvxtt3f7HoAAAAA%3AVoJVIiETCsdYFm4EgvrPqtjbfXyAIBrI5zkflPPq-hWXsME4IQyrZvUZuz0Sg_xunX68eEdNF3TvyMMq">sharing experiences</a> together. So perhaps the best option for Valentine’s Day is to forget about spending money on expensive gifts and make it about how you spend time as a couple instead. Try to do something that creates a fond memory – in a way that a wilting bunch of flowers never will.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathrine Jansson-Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>February 14 brings great expectations.Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, Reader in Consumer Psychology, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1747722022-01-12T16:42:04Z2022-01-12T16:42:04ZWe’ve unveiled the waratah’s genetic secrets, helping preserve this Australian icon for the future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440381/original/file-20220112-21-kcgbcm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4672%2C3104&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AGAV6949.jpg">Vrweare/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the smoke cleared after the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, the bush surrounding the <a href="https://www.bluemountainsbotanicgarden.com.au/">Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah</a> was charred. Among the casualties was a NSW waratah, <em>Telopea speciosissima</em>, that had recently become the first of its species to have its genome sequenced. We have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1755-0998.13574">published this genome</a> in the journal Molecular Ecology Resources.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/plants-and-animals/waratah">waratah</a> is the official floral emblem of New South Wales, and its spectacular red blooms have been adopted as the logos of state government agencies and sporting teams.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Waratah in flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440403/original/file-20220112-27-sd9x7j.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Waratahs are a cherished member of Australia’s native flora.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Chen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The genome sequence paves the way for the waratah to serve as a model for understanding how plant populations change over time and adapt to their environments, and particularly how this species bounces back after a bushfire.</p>
<p>Genome sequencing has come a long way in a short time. The first human genome, completed in 2003, cost around US$1 billion and took about 13 years to compile the roughly 3 billion “letters” of our genetic code. Today, sequencing a human genome would cost less than $1,000 and take just a few days.</p>
<p>With rapidly decreasing costs and advancing technology, the genomic era presents the opportunity to decode many plant genomes that we can then use as reference resources. In turn, this will help us understand and conserve Australian fauna for the long term.</p>
<h2>What is a genome anyway?</h2>
<p>An organism’s genome is the complete set of genetic information it needs to develop, grow and survive. Plants, animals and many other living things are made of DNA, which consists of a string of four chemical “bases”, known as A, C, G and T.</p>
<p>Sequencing a genome involves determining the order of these bases. When we began our project, we knew from previous research the waratah genome would be quite long, at around a billion bases, that it was likely to be arranged into 11 large parcels called chromosomes, and that each plant would have two copies of the genome in each of its cells.</p>
<h2>Cracking the waratah code</h2>
<p>Generating the waratah reference genome first involved sampling young leaves from a plant growing naturally in the Blue Mountains. We extracted DNA from the leaves, and used three different sequencing technologies to piece together its genetic code. This approach generated many sequences, hundreds or thousands of bases long, which we then needed to assemble to determine the full genome.</p>
<p>Assembling the genome involved a range of different software tools, running on powerful computers. The result was a sequence of slightly less than a billion bases, mostly in 11 large sequences, as expected. The sequences appear to contain around 40,000 genes in total – roughly twice as many as humans have.</p>
<h2>Why we sequenced the waratah</h2>
<p>Previous sequencing efforts have focused on important crops and on “model organisms” such as <em>Arabidopsis</em>, which is widely studied by researchers and was the first plant to have its genome sequenced, back in 2000. But of course, there are many other types of species in the plant tree of life.</p>
<p>The NSW waratah is one of five waratah species in the genus <em>Telopea</em>, which grows throughout southeastern Australia, and one of around 1,700 species in the family Proteaceae. This family includes other iconic Australian plants such as banksias, grevilleas and macadamias. Yet despite this, very few Proteaceae genomes have so far been sequenced.</p>
<p>A collaborative effort between the Australian Institute of Botanical Science and UNSW Sydney, the waratah genome project was the first completed as part of the <a href="https://www.genomicsforaustralianplants.com/">Genomics for Australian Plants (GAP) Initiative</a>. A key aim of this initiative is to generate genomes to enable better conservation and understanding of Australia’s unique plant diversity.</p>
<h2>Hope for the future</h2>
<p>For many Australians, Black Summer embodied the threat posed by climate change to our unique natural heritage. But waratahs evolved with fire, and can regenerate with the help of a modified stem called a lignotuber, from which masses of fresh shoots emerge after a bushfire. It offers a potent symbol of our hope for the future.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Resprouting waratah" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440401/original/file-20220112-25-93e3h8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The waratah involved in the study has now resprouted after being burned during Black Summer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Royal Botanic Gardens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The waratah plant whose genome we sequenced has resprouted after being burned in the Black Summer fires, and has now been propagated at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah and will become part of the garden’s living collection.</p>
<p>A display inspired by this plant and its genome will also feature in the foyer of the <a href="https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/About-us/Major-projects/Building-a-new-Herbarium">new National Herbarium of NSW</a> when it opens at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan next year.</p>
<p>The waratah’s genome sequence will provide a platform for future studies of its evolution and environmental adaption, ultimately informing breeding efforts and helping us better conserve this iconic species. By sequencing its DNA, we can uncover its evolutionary past and pave the way for its survival long into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Chen is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Bragg receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Edwards receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Researchers have sequenced the genome of the waratah, using a plant that was burned in the Black Summer fires but has since resprouted, offering an emblem of hope for future conservation.Stephanie Chen, PhD Candidate, UNSW SydneyJason Bragg, Research Scientist, Botanic Gardens of SydneyRichard Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Genomics and Bioinformatics, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1726022021-12-15T19:08:22Z2021-12-15T19:08:22ZHibbert’s flowers and Hitler’s beetle – what do we do when species are named after history’s monsters?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437438/original/file-20211214-13-y3duma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=118%2C0%2C3843%2C2232&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hibbertia_procumbens_(6691568261).jpg">John Tann/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“What’s in a name?”, <a href="https://www.bartleby.com/70/3822.html">asked Juliet of Romeo</a>. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”</p>
<p>But, as with the Montagues and Capulets, names mean a lot, and can cause a great deal of heartache.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I are <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-the-science-of-tax-and-five-other-things-you-should-know-about-taxonomy-78926">taxonomists</a>, which means we name living things. While we’ve never named a rose, we do discover and name new Australian species of plants and animals – and there are a lot of them!</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/about-500-000-australian-species-are-undiscovered-and-scientists-are-on-a-25-year-mission-to-finish-the-job-161793">About 500,000 Australian species are undiscovered – and scientists are on a 25-year mission to finish the job</a>
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<p>For each new species we discover, we create and publish a Latin scientific name, following a set of international rules and conventions. The name has two parts: the first part is the genus name (such as <em>Eucalyptus</em>), which describes the group of species to which the new species belongs, and the second part is a species name (such as <em>globulus</em>, thereby making the name <em>Eucalyptus globulus</em>) particular to the new species itself. New species are either added to an existing genus, or occasionally, if they’re sufficiently novel, are given their own new genus.</p>
<p>Some scientific names are widely known – arguably none more so than our own, <em>Homo sapiens</em>. And gardeners or nature enthusiasts will be familiar with genus names such as <em>Acacia</em>, <em>Callistemon</em> or <em>Banksia</em>.</p>
<p>This all sounds pretty uncontroversial. But as with Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, history and tradition sometimes present problems.</p>
<h2>What’s in a name?</h2>
<p>Take the genus <em><a href="http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&name=Hibbertia">Hibbertia</a></em>, the Australian guineaflowers. This is one of the largest genera of plants in Australia, and the one we study. </p>
<p>There are many new and yet-unnamed species of <em>Hibbertia</em>, which means new species names are regularly added to this genus.</p>
<p>Many scientific names are derived from a feature of the species or genus being named, such as <em>Eucalyptus</em>, from the Greek for “well-covered” (a reference to the operculum or bud-cap that covers unopened eucalypt flowers). </p>
<p>Others <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-funny-to-name-species-after-celebrities-but-theres-a-serious-side-too-95513">honour significant people</a>, either living or dead. <em>Hibbertia</em> is named after a wealthy 19th-century English patron of botany, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hibbert">George Hibbert</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="George Hibbert by Thomas Lawrence" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437440/original/file-20211214-15-1u4xyy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">George Hibbert: big fan of flowers and slavery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Hibbert_by_Thomas_Lawrence,_1811.JPG">Thomas Lawrence/Stephen C. Dickson/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And here’s where things stop being straightforward, because Hibbert’s wealth came almost entirely from the transatlantic slave trade. He profited from taking slaves from Africa to the New World, selling some and using others on his family’s extensive plantations, then transporting slave-produced sugar and cotton back to England.</p>
<p>Hibbert was also a prominent member of the British parliament and a <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/16791">staunch opponent of abolition</a>. He and his ilk argued that slavery was economically necessary for England, and even that slaves were better off on the plantations than in their homelands. </p>
<p>Even at the time, his views were considered abhorrent by many critics. But despite this, he was handsomely recompensed for his “losses” when Britain finally abolished slavery in 1807.</p>
<p>So, should Hibbert be honoured with the name of a genus of plants, to which new species are still being added today – effectively meaning he is honoured afresh with each new publication?</p>
<p>We don’t believe so. Just like statues, buildings, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/was-first-governor-james-stirling-had-links-to-slavery-as-well-as-directing-a-massacre-should-he-be-honoured-162078">street or suburb names</a>, we think a reckoning is due for scientific species names that honour people who held views or acted in ways that are deeply dishonourable, highly problematic or truly egregious by modern standards.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Anophthalmus hitleri" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437442/original/file-20211214-13-1yaho8u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This beetle doesn’t deserve to be named after the most reviled figure of the 20th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anophthalmus_hitleri_HabitusDors.jpg">Michael Munich/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just as Western Australia’s King Leopold Range <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-03/wa-king-leopold-ranges-renamed-wunaamin-miliwundi-ranges/12416254">was recently renamed</a> to remove the link to the atrocious <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium">Leopold II of Belgium</a>, we would like <em>Hibbertia</em> to bear a more appropriate and less troubling name.</p>
<p>The same goes for the Great Barrier Reef coral <em><a href="http://www.edgeofexistence.org/species/elegance-coral/">Catalaphyllia jardinei</a></em>, named after Frank Jardine, a brutal dispossessor of Aboriginal people in North Queensland. And, perhaps most astoundingly, the rare Slovenian cave beetle <em><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/773804">Anophthalmus hitleri</a></em>, which was named in 1933 in honour of Adolf Hitler. </p>
<p>This name is unfortunate for several reasons: despite being a small, somewhat nondescript, blind beetle, in recent years it has been reportedly <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/fans-exterminate-hitler-beetle-6232054.html">pushed to the brink of extinction</a> by Nazi memorabilia enthusiasts. Specimens are even being stolen from museum collections for sale into this lucrative market.</p>
<h2>Aye, there’s the rub</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, the official rules don’t allow us to rename <em>Hibbertia</em> or any other species that has a troubling or inappropriate name.</p>
<p>To solve this, we propose a change to the international rules for naming species. Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tax.12620">proposal</a>, if adopted, would establish an international expert committee to decide what do about scientific names that honour inappropriate people or are based on culturally offensive words. </p>
<p>An example of the latter is the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tax.12622">many names of plants</a> based on the Latin <em>caffra</em>, the origin of which is a word so offensive to Black Africans that its use is <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/k-word-south-africa-and-proposed-new-penalties-against-hate-speech">banned in South Africa</a>.</p>
<p>Some may argue the scholarly naming of species should remain aloof from social change, and that Hibbert’s views on slavery are irrelevant to the classification of Australian flowers. We counter that, just like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Edward_Colston">toppling statues in Bristol Harbour</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/18/goodbye-cecil-rhodes-house-renamed-to-lose-link-to-british-empire-builder-in-africa">removing Cecil Rhodes’ name from public buildings</a>, renaming things is important and necessary if we are to right history’s wrongs.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/was-first-governor-james-stirling-had-links-to-slavery-as-well-as-directing-a-massacre-should-he-be-honoured-162078">WA's first governor James Stirling had links to slavery, as well as directing a massacre. Should he be honoured?</a>
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<p>We believe that science, including taxonomy, must be socially responsible and responsive. Science is embedded in culture rather than housed in ivory towers, and scientists should work for the common good rather than blindly follow tradition. Deeply problematic names pervade science just as they pervade our streets, cities and landscapes.</p>
<p><em>Hibbertia</em> may be just a name, but we believe a different name for this lovely genus of Australian flowers would smell much sweeter.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Tim Hammer, a postdoctoral research fellow at the State Herbarium of South Australia.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172602/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Thiele does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One of Australia’s largest groups of flower species is named after a wealthy British slave-trader. And Nazi memorabilia collectors have almost sent “Hitler’s beetle” extinct. It’s time for a change.Kevin Thiele, Adjunct Assoc. Professor, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1673742021-09-10T03:21:42Z2021-09-10T03:21:42ZThe daily dance of flowers tracking the sun is more fascinating than most of us realise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420390/original/file-20210910-21-16krrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C6%2C4174%2C2785&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julien Christ/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When I was a child, I was intrigued by <a href="https://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/RFK7/key/RFK7/Media/Html/entities/Lophostemon_confertus.htm">the Queensland box</a> (<em>Lophostemon confertus</em>) growing in our backyard. I noticed its leaves hung vertical after lunch in summer, and were more or less horizontal by the next morning. </p>
<p>This an example of heliotropism, which literally means moving in relation to the sun. We can see it most clearly as spring arrives and various species burst into flower — you might even get the feeling that some flowers are watching you as they move.</p>
<p>Many of us probably first got to know of heliotropism at home, kindergarten or primary school by watching the enormous yellow and black flowering heads of aptly name sunflowers, which moved as they grew. </p>
<p>These flowers track the course of the sun spectacularly on warm and sunny, spring or summer days. Sometimes they move through an arc of almost 180⁰ from morning to evening. </p>
<p>So with the return of sunny days and flowers in full bloom this season, let’s look at why this phenomenon is so interesting. </p>
<h2>The mechanics of tracking the sun</h2>
<p>A number <a href="https://echelonflorist.com/flower-talk/lessons-flowers-facing-sun-phototropic-plants/">flowering species</a> display heliotropism, including alpine buttercups, arctic poppies, alfalfa, soybean and many of the daisy-type species. So why do they do it?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420395/original/file-20210910-27-1px5oh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This is <em>Heliotropium arborescens</em>, named for its heliotropism. They were very popular in gardens a century or more ago, but have fallen from favour as they can be poisonous and weedy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Flowers are really in the advertising game and will do anything they can to attract a suitable pollinator, as effectively and as efficiently as they can. There are several <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/heliotropism">possible reasons</a> why tracking the sun might have evolved to achieve more successful pollination. </p>
<p>By tracking the sun, flowers absorb more solar radiation and so <a href="http://lifeofplant.blogspot.com/2011/03/heliotropism.html">remain warmer</a>. The warmer temperature suits or even rewards insect pollinators that are more active when they have a higher body temperature. </p>
<p>Optimum flower warmth may also boost pollen development and germination, leading to a higher fertilisation rate and more seeds. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-theres-a-lot-more-to-love-about-jacarandas-than-just-their-purple-flowers-150851">Why there's a lot more to love about jacarandas than just their purple flowers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So, the flowers are clearly moving. But how? </p>
<p>For many heliotropic flowering species, there’s a special layer of cells called the pulvinus <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/cims/research/Bio-Intelligent-Materials.pdf">just under the flower heads</a>. These cells pump water across their cell membranes in a controlled way, so that cells can be fully pumped up like a balloon or become empty and flaccid. Changes in these cells allow the flower head to move.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Venus fly trap" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420399/original/file-20210910-13-yn5t11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fly traps have somewhat similar mechanics to heliotropism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When potassium from neighbouring plant cells is moved into the cells of the pulvinus, water follows and the cells inflate. When they move potassium out of the cells, they become flaccid. </p>
<p>These potassium pumps are involved in many other aspects of plant movement, too. This includes the opening and closing of stomata (tiny regulated leaf apertures), the rapid movement of mimosa leaves, or the closing of a fly trap. </p>
<h2>But sunflowers dance differently</h2>
<p>In 2016, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488891151/the-mystery-of-why-sunflowers-turn-to-follow-the-sun-solved">scientists discovered</a> that the pin-up example of heliotropism — the sunflower — had a different way of moving. </p>
<p>They found sunflower movement is due to significantly different growth rates on opposite sides of the flowering stem. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sunflower facing a setting sun" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420389/original/file-20210910-15-1q475ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sunflowers move differently to other heliotropic flowers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aaron Burden/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the east-facing side, the cells grow and elongate quickly during the day, which slowly pushes the flower to face west as the daylight hours go by — following the sun. At night the west-side cells grow and elongate more rapidly, which pushes the flower back toward the east over night. </p>
<p>Everything is then set for the whole process to begin again at dawn next day, which is repeated daily until the flower stops growing and movement ceases. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-secret-life-of-puddles-their-value-to-nature-is-subtle-but-hugely-important-154561">The secret life of puddles: their value to nature is subtle, but hugely important</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While many people are aware of heliotropism in flowers, heliotropic movement of leaves is less commonly noticed or known. Plants with heliotropic flowers don’t necessarily have heliotropic leaves, and vice versa. </p>
<p>Heliotropism evolves in response to highly specific environmental conditions, and factors <a href="https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/sunflowers-always-face-follow-sun.html">affecting flowers</a> can be different from those impacting leaves. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420401/original/file-20210910-25-2xp1vf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The leaves of Queensland box, <em>Lophostemon confertus</em>, which track the sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, flowers are all about pollination and seed production. For leaves, it’s for maximising photosynthesis, avoiding over-heating on a hot day or even reducing water loss in harsh and arid conditions.</p>
<p>Some species, such as the Queensland box, arrange their leaves so they’re somewhat horizontal in the morning, capturing the full value of the available sunlight. But there are also instances where leaves align vertically to the sun in the middle of the day to minimise the risks of heat damage.</p>
<h2>Plants are dynamic</h2>
<p>It’s easy to think of plants as static organisms. But of course, they are forever changing, responding to their environments and growing. They are dynamic in their own way, and we tend to assume that when they do change, it will be at a very slow and steady pace.</p>
<p>Heliotropism shows us this is not necessarily the case. Plants changing daily can be a little unsettling in that we sense a change but may not be aware of what is causing our unease. </p>
<p>As for me, I still keep a watchful eye on those Queensland boxes!</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-risen-the-story-of-resurrection-ferns-and-my-late-colleague-who-helped-discover-them-in-australia-157775">It is risen: the story of resurrection ferns and my late colleague who helped discover them in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167374/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The phenomenon is called heliotropism, and sunflowers are most famous for it. But why do they track the sun? And how?Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1603622021-05-12T20:02:56Z2021-05-12T20:02:56ZThe 50 beautiful Australian plants at greatest risk of extinction — and how to save them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400180/original/file-20210512-19-15eu4wy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C21%2C2014%2C1511&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Caley’s grevillea (_Grevillea caleyi_) occurs in Sydney. It needs fire to germinate but burns are hard to carry out near urban areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony Auld</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As far as odds go, things don’t look promising for the slender-nerved acacia (<em>Acacia leptoneura</em>), a spiky plant with classic yellow-ball wattle flowers. With most of its habitat in Western Australia’s wheat belt cleared for agriculture, it was considered extinct for more than 160 years. </p>
<p>Now, just two plants are known in the world, and they’re not even in the same place. This species is among many Australian plants that have come perilously close to extinction. </p>
<p>To help prevent the loss of any native plant species, we’ve assembled a massive evidence base for more than 750 plants listed as critically endangered or endangered. Of these, we’ve identified the 50 at greatest risk of extinction.</p>
<p>The good news is for most of these imperilled plants, we already have the knowledge and techniques needed to conserve them. We’ve devised an <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/publications-and-tools/action-plan-for-australia-s-imperilled-plants-2021">action plan</a> that’s relatively easy to implement, but requires long-term funding and commitment.</p>
<h2>What’s driving the loss?</h2>
<p>There are <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=flora">1,384 plant species and subspecies</a> listed as threatened at a national level. Twelve Australian plant species are considered probably extinct and a further 21 species possibly extinct, while 206 are officially listed as critically endangered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Yellow wattle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400159/original/file-20210512-13-j02ng2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two known plants of slender nerved acacia (<em>Acacia leptoneura</em>) remain, about 1 kilometre apart. Propagation attempts have been unsuccessful and the genetic diversity is probably very low.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joel Collins</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Australian plants were used, managed and celebrated by Australia’s First Nations people for at least 60,000 years, but since European colonisation, they’ve been beset by a range of threats. </p>
<p>Land clearing, the introduction of alien plants, animals, diseases, and interruptions to ecological processes such as fire patterns and flooding have taken a heavy toll on many species. This is particularly the case in the more densely populated eastern and southern parts of the continent.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of yellow flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400164/original/file-20210512-13-1vsdrum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ironstone pixie mop (<em>Petrophile latericola</em>) occurs on a soil type that’s been heavily cleared for agriculture, and is suspected to be susceptible to an introduced root-rot fungus. In 2020 fewer than 200 plants remained, in poor condition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Crawford</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Things aren’t improving. <a href="https://tsx.org.au/visualising-the-index/">Scientists</a> recently compiled long-term monitoring of more than 100 threatened plant species at 600 sites nationally. And <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/c40dp44e/3-1-tpx-national-plants-findings-factsheet_v5.pdf">they found</a> populations had declined on average by 72% between 1995 and 2017.</p>
<p>This is a very steep rate of decline, much <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/news-and-media/latest-news/threatened-plant-trends-in-the-spotlight">greater than for threatened mammal or bird populations</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-first-research-reveals-staggering-loss-of-threatened-plants-over-20-years-151408">Australia-first research reveals staggering loss of threatened plants over 20 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>On the brink</h2>
<p>Many species listed as threatened aren’t receiving targeted conservation action or even baseline monitoring, so an important first step in preventing extinctions was <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/1aobde4s/2-4-red-hot-plants-findings-factsheet_f2.pdf">identifying the species at greatest risk</a>.</p>
<p>To find the top 50, we looked at the evidence: all available published and unpublished information and expert surveys of over 120 botanists and land managers.
They’re targeted by our <a href="https://www.nespthreatenedspecies.edu.au/media/wksjzmcs/2-4-action-plan-for-australia-s-imperilled-plants-2021.pdf">Action Plan for Australia’s Imperilled Plants</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1rWSIpNN_qk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Action Plan for Australia’s Imperilled Plants.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thirty of the species in the plan have fewer than 50 mature individual plants remaining. </p>
<p>And 33 are known only from a single location, such as the <a href="https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/32614/Grampians_Pincushion-lily-Borya_mirabilis.pdf">Grampians pincushion-lily</a> (<em>Borya mirabilis</em>), which occurs on one rocky outcrop in Victoria. This means the entire population could be destroyed by a single event, such as a major bushfire. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dead-looking gum tree on agricultural land" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400165/original/file-20210512-17-1w5v073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">About 2,000 Morrisby’s gums were growing in the early 1990s, but by 2016 fewer than 50 remained. Climate change and damage from insects and animals threaten those left. Protecting trees with fencing has led to new seedlings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Magali Wright</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1262&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400167/original/file-20210512-19-1taicuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1262&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fewer than 10 lax leek-orchids (<em>Prasophyllum laxum</em>) remain. Declines are ongoing due to drought and wildfire, and the South Australian species only occurs on private property not managed for conservation. Proposed recovery actions include habitat protection and establishing the orchid and its mycorrhizal fungi in conservation reserves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shane Graves</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400168/original/file-20210512-17-gd6lw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fewer than 15 woods well spyridium (<em>Spyridium fontis-woodii</em>) shrubs remain on a single roadside in South Australia. Research into threats and germination requirements is urgently needed, plus translocation to conservation reserves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Duval/South Australian Seed Conservation Centre</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So how can we protect them?</h2>
<p>Some of the common management actions we’ve proposed include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>preventing further loss of species’ habitat. This is the most important action required at a national scale </p></li>
<li><p>regularly monitoring populations to better understand how species respond to threats and management actions </p></li>
<li><p>safely trialling appropriate fire management regimes, such as burning in areas where fires have been suppressed</p></li>
<li><p>investing in disease research and management, to combat the threat of phytophthora (root-rot fungus) and myrtle rust, which damages leaves</p></li>
<li><p>propagating and moving species to establish plants at new sites, to boost the size of wild populations, or to increase genetic diversity</p></li>
<li><p>protecting plants from grazing and browsing animals, such as feral goats and rabbits, and sometimes from native animals such as kangaroos. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400169/original/file-20210512-21-kwk621.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Once common, the dwarf spider-orchid (<em>Caladenia pumila</em>) wasn’t seen for over 80 years until two individual plants were found. Despite intensive management, no natural recruitment has occurred. Propagation attempts have successfully produced 100 seedlings and 11 mature plants from seed. This photo shows botanist Marc Freestone hand-pollinating dwarf spider-orchids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marc Freestone</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400182/original/file-20210512-15-1krif55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Only 21 mature plants of Gillingarra grevillea (<em>Grevillea sp. Gillingarra</em>) remain on a disturbed, weedy rail reserve in southwestern WA. Half the population was destroyed in 2011 due to railway maintenance and flooding. Habitat protection and restoration, and translocations to conservation reserves are needed to ensure its survival.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Crawford</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another common issue is lack of recruitment, meaning there’s no young plants coming up to replace the old ones when they die. Sometimes this is because the processes that triggered these plants to flower, release seed or germinate are no longer occurring. This can include things like fire of a particular intensity or the right season. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, for some plants we don’t yet know what triggers are required, and further research is essential to establish this.</p>
<h2>Now we need the political will</h2>
<p>Our plan is for anyone involved in threatened flora management, including federal, state, territory and local government groups, First Nations, environment and community conservation groups, and anyone with one of these plants on their land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1200%2C871&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1200%2C871&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400157/original/file-20210512-13-1dp5dv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Border Ranges lined fern (<em>Antrophyum austroqueenslandicum</em>) and its habitat are exceedingly rare. It’s threatened by drought and climate change, and fewer than 50 plants remain in NSW. If the threat of illegal collection can be controlled, the species would benefit from re-introduction to Queensland’s Lamington National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lui Weber</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Plants make Australian landscapes unique — over 90% of our plant species are found nowhere else in the world. They’re also the backbone of our ecosystems, creating the rich and varied habitats for our iconic fauna to live in. Plants underpin and enrich our lives every day.</p>
<p>Now we have an effective plan to conserve the Australian plants at the greatest risk of extinction. What’s needed is the political will and resourcing to act in time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/undocumented-plant-extinctions-are-a-big-problem-in-australia-heres-why-they-go-unnoticed-118607">Undocumented plant extinctions are a big problem in Australia – here’s why they go unnoticed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160362/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Silcock receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaana Dielenberg works for the Threatened Species Recovery Hub which receives funding from the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program.
This article received valuable input from Dr Tanya Llorens at the WA Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions who is a co-author of the Action Plan for Imperilled Plants. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rod Fensham receives funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teghan Collingwood has received funding from the Australian Government's National Environmetnal Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub. She works for Queensland Trust For Nature and is affiliated with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science. </span></em></p>Many threatened plant species aren’t being targeted for conservation. Identifying which are closest to being lost forever is the first step to protect them.Jennifer Silcock, Post-doctoral research fellow, The University of QueenslandJaana Dielenberg, University Fellow, Charles Darwin UniversityRoderick John Fensham, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, The University of QueenslandTeghan Collingwood, Research Technician, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1606012021-05-10T19:50:59Z2021-05-10T19:50:59ZScientists are more likely to study bold and beautiful blooms, but ugly flowers matter too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399682/original/file-20210510-19-1qnjuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C30%2C2233%2C2967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">_Myricaria germanica_ is a rare and endangered species hit hard by climate change, but little research is undertaken to help save it</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martino Adamo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We all love gardens with beautiful flowers and leafy plants, choosing colourful species to plant in and around our homes. Plant scientists, however, may have fallen for the same trick in what they choose to research. </p>
<p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00912-2">Our research</a>, published today in Nature Plants, found there’s a clear bias among scientists toward visually striking plants. This means they’re more likely chosen for scientific study and conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological or evolutionary significance. </p>
<p>To our surprise, colour played a major role skewing researcher bias. White, red and pink flowers were more likely to feature in research literature than those with dull, or green and brown flowers. Blue plants — the <a href="https://sciences.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2019/08/20/why-is-the-colour-blue-so-rare-in-nature">rarest colour</a> in nature — received most research attention.</p>
<p>But does this bias matter? Plants worldwide are facing mass extinction due to environmental threats such as climate change. Now, more than ever, the human-induced tide of extinction means scientists need to be more fair-handed in ensuring all species have a fighting chance at survival. </p>
<h2>Hidden plants in carpets of wildflowers</h2>
<p>I was part of an international team that sifted through 280 research papers from 1975 to 2020, and analysed 113 plant species found in the southwestern Alps in Europe. </p>
<p>The Alps is a global biodiversity hotspot and the subject of almost 200 years of intensive plant science. But climate change is now creating hotter conditions, threatening many of its rarest species. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="White flower with mountains in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399645/original/file-20210510-17-1vvu1q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Edelweiss is a charismatic plant of the Alps that heralds spring.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carpeted in snow for much of the year, the brief yet explosive flowering of Europe’s alpine flora following the thaw is a joy to behold. Who was not bewitched when Julie Andrews danced in an alpine meadow in its full spring wildflower livery in The Sound of Music? Or when she sung “edelweiss”, one of the charismatic plants of the Alps that heralds spring? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-are-blind-to-plants-and-thats-bad-news-for-conservation-65240">People are 'blind' to plants, and that's bad news for conservation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Hidden in these carpets of bright blue gentians and <em>Delphiniums</em>, vibrant daisies and orchids, are tiny or dull plants. This includes small sedges (<em>Carex</em> species), lady’s mantle (<em>Alchemilla</em> species) or the snake lily (<em>Fritillaria</em>) with its sanguine drooping flowers on thin stems. </p>
<p>Many of these “uncharismatic plants” are also rare or important ecological species, yet garner little attention from scientists and the public. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C854&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up of a blue flower" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C854&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399614/original/file-20210510-23-ommt1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bellflowers (<em>Campanula</em>) are conspicuous and prominent in the Alps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martino Adamo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The plants scientists prefer</h2>
<p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00912-2">The study asked</a> if scientists were impartial to good-looking plants. We tested whether there was a relationship between research focus on plant species and characteristics, such as the colour, shape and prominence of species.</p>
<p>Along with a bias towards colourful flowers, we found accessible and conspicuous flowers were among those most studied (outside of plants required for human food or medicine).</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Blue flowers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399616/original/file-20210510-17-1j6figo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Bold and beautiful flowers in alpine meadows win scientific attention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martino Adamo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>This includes tall, prominent <em>Delphinium</em> and larkspurs, both well-known garden delights with well-displayed, vibrant flowers that often verge on fluorescent. Stem height also contributed to how readily a plant was researched, as it determines a plant’s ability to stand out among others. This includes tall bellflowers (<em>Campanula</em> species) and orchids. </p>
<p>But interestingly, a plant’s rarity didn’t significantly influence research attention. Charismatic orchids, for example, figured prominently despite rarer, less obvious species growing nearby, such as tiny sedges (<em>Cypreaceae</em>) and grass species.</p>
<h2>The consequences of plant favouritism</h2>
<p>This bias may steer conservation efforts away from plants that, while less visually pleasing, are more important to the health of the overall ecosystem or in need of urgent conservation.</p>
<p>In this time of urgent conservation, controlling our bias in plant science is critical. While the world list of threatened species (<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">the IUCN RED List</a>) should be the basis for guiding global plant conservation, the practice is often far from science based. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Mat rush with brown flowers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399684/original/file-20210510-23-17k9bla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mat rushes are home for rare native sun moths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>We often don’t know how important a species is until it’s thoroughly researched, and losing an unnoticed species could mean the loss of a keystone plant. </p>
<p>In Australia, for example, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/gardening-for-butterflies/9434794">milkweeds</a> (<em>Asclepiadaceae</em>) are an important food source for butterflies and caterpillars, while grassy mat rushes (dull-flowered <em>Lomandra</em> species) are now known to be the home for rare native sun moths. From habitats to food, these plants provide foundational ecological services, yet many milkweed and mat rush species are rare, and largely neglected in conservation research.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/majestic-stunning-intriguing-and-bizarre-new-guinea-has-13-634-species-of-plants-and-these-are-some-of-our-favourites-144279">'Majestic, stunning, intriguing and bizarre': New Guinea has 13,634 species of plants, and these are some of our favourites</a>
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<p>Likewise, we can count on one hand the number of scientists who work on creepy fungal-like organisms called “slime molds”, compared to the platoons of scientists who work on <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/conservation-methods-for-terrestrial-orchids-book">the most glamorous of plants</a>: the orchids. </p>
<p>Yet, <a href="https://herbarium.usu.edu/fun-with-fungi/slime-molds">slime molds</a>, with their extraordinary ability to live without cell walls and to float their nuclei in a pulsating jelly of cytoplasm, could hold keys to all sorts of remarkable scientific discoveries.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Yellow slime on tree trunk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399641/original/file-20210510-12-15audyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Slime molds could hold the key to many scientific discoveries, but the organisms are understudied.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>We need to love our boring plants</h2>
<p>Our study shows the need to take aesthetic biases more explicitly into consideration in science and in the choice of species studied, for the best conservation and ecological outcomes.</p>
<p>While our study didn’t venture into Australia, the principle holds true: we should be more vigilant in all parts of the conservation process, from the science to listing species for protection under the law. (Attractiveness bias may affect public interest here, too.)</p>
<p>So next time you go for a bushwalk, think about the plants you may have trodden on because they weren’t worth a second glance. They may be important to native insects, improve soil health or critical for a healthy bushland. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-3-tips-will-help-you-create-a-thriving-pollinator-friendly-garden-this-winter-157880">These 3 tips will help you create a thriving pollinator-friendly garden this winter</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kingsley Dixon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research found colour played a major role skewing researcher bias — pretty, vibrant flowers get more scientific attention than dull plants, regardless of their ecological significance.Kingsley Dixon, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.