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Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the
reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division
Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is
to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm
with eggs. Flowers may facilitate outcrossing (fusion of sperm and eggs from
different individuals in a population) or allow selfing (fusion of sperm and
egg from the same flower). Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization
(parthenocarpy). Flowers contain sporangia and are the site where gametophytes
develop. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to cause
them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. After fertilization, the ovary
of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds.
In addition to facilitating the reproduction of flowering
plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to bring beauty to
their environment, and also as objects of romance, ritual, religion, medicine
and as a source of food.
Floral parts
The essential parts of a flower can be considered in two
parts: the vegetative part, consisting of petals and associated structures in
the perianth, and the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower
consists of four kinds of structures attached to the tip of a short stalk. Each
of these kinds of parts is arranged in a whorl on the receptacle. The four main
whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working
upwards) are as follows:
Perianth
Main articles: Perianth, Sepal, and Corolla (flower)
Collectively the calyx and corolla form the perianth (see
diagram).
Calyx: the outermost
whorl consisting of units called sepals; these are typically green and enclose
the rest of the flower in the bud stage, however, they can be absent or
prominent and petal-like in some species.
Corolla: the next
whorl toward the apex, composed of units called petals, which are typically
thin, soft and colored to attract animals that help the process of pollination.
Reproductive
Main articles: Plant reproductive morphology, Androecium,
and Gynoecium
Reproductive parts of Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum). 1.
Stigma, 2. Style, 3. Stamens, 4. Filament, 5. Petal
Androecium (from
Greek andros oikia: man's house): the next whorl (sometimes multiplied into
several whorls), consisting of units called stamens. Stamens consist of two
parts: a stalk called a filament, topped by an anther where pollen is produced
by meiosis and eventually dispersed.
Gynoecium (from
Greek gynaikos oikia: woman's house): the innermost whorl of a flower,
consisting of one or more units called carpels. The carpel or multiple fused
carpels form a hollow structure called an ovary, which produces ovules
internally. Ovules are megasporangia and they in turn produce megaspores by
meiosis which develop into female gametophytes. These give rise to egg cells.
The gynoecium of a flower is also described using an alternative terminology
wherein the structure one sees in the innermost whorl (consisting of an ovary,
style and stigma) is called a pistil. A pistil may consist of a single carpel
or a number of carpels fused together. The sticky tip of the pistil, the
stigma, is the receptor of pollen. The supportive stalk, the style, becomes the
pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma. The
relationship to the gynoecium on the receptacle is described as hypogynous
(beneath a superior ovary), perigynous (surrounding a superior ovary), or
epigynous (above inferior ovary).
Structure
Although the arrangement described above is considered
"typical", plant species show a wide variation in floral
structure. These modifications have significance in the evolution of
flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish
relationships among plant species.
The four main parts of a flower are generally defined by
their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack
some parts or parts may be modified into other functions and/or look like what
is typically another part. In some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are
greatly reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like.
Other flowers have modified stamens that are petal-like; the double flowers of
Peonies and Roses are mostly petaloid stamens.Flowers show great variation
and plant scientists describe this variation in a systematic way to identify
and distinguish species.
Specific terminology is used to describe flowers and their
parts. Many flower parts are fused together; fused parts originating from the
same whorl are connate, while fused parts originating from different whorls are
adnate; parts that are not fused are free. When petals are fused into a tube or
ring that falls away as a single unit, they are sympetalous (also called
gamopetalous). Connate petals may have distinctive regions: the cylindrical
base is the tube, the expanding region is the throat and the flaring outer
region is the limb. A sympetalous flower, with bilateral symmetry with an upper
and lower lip, is bilabiate. Flowers with connate petals or sepals may have
various shaped corolla or calyx, including campanulate, funnelform, tubular,
urceolate, salverform or rotate.
Referring to "fusion," as it is commonly done,
appears questionable because at least some of the processes involved may be
non-fusion processes. For example, the addition of intercalary growth at or
below the base of the primordia of floral appendages such as sepals, petals,
stamens and carpels may lead to a common base that is not the result of
fusion.
Left: A normal zygomorphic Streptocarpus flower. Right: An
aberrant peloric Streptocarpus flower. Both of these flowers appeared on the
Streptocarpus hybrid 'Anderson's Crows' Wings'.
Many flowers have a symmetry. When the perianth is bisected
through the central axis from any point and symmetrical halves are produced,
the flower is said to be actinomorphic or regular, e.g. rose or trillium. This
is an example of radial symmetry. When flowers are bisected and produce only
one line that produces symmetrical halves, the flower is said to be irregular
or zygomorphic, e.g. snapdragon or most orchids.
Flowers may be directly attached to the plant at their base
(sessile—the supporting stalk or stem is highly reduced or absent). The stem or
stalk subtending a flower is called a peduncle. If a peduncle supports more
than one flower, the stems connecting each flower to the main axis are called
pedicels. The apex of a flowering stem forms a terminal swelling which is
called the torus or receptacle.
Inflorescence
The familiar calla lily is not a single flower. It is
actually an inflorescence of tiny flowers pressed together on a central stalk
that is surrounded by a large petal-like bract.
Main article: Inflorescence
In those species that have more than one flower on an axis,
the collective cluster of flowers is termed an inflorescence. Some
inflorescences are composed of many small flowers arranged in a formation that
resembles a single flower. The common example of this is most members of the
very large composite (Asteraceae) group. A single daisy or sunflower, for
example, is not a flower but a flower head—an inflorescence composed of
numerous flowers (or florets). An inflorescence may include specialized stems
and modified leaves known as bracts.
Floral diagrams and floral formulae
Main articles: Floral formula and Floral diagram
A floral formula is a way to represent the structure of a
flower using specific letters, numbers and symbols, presenting substantial
information about the flower in a compact form. It can represent a taxon,
usually giving ranges of the numbers of different organs, or particular
species. Floral formulae have been developed in the early 19th century and
their use has declined since. Prenner et al. (2010) devised an extension of the
existing model to broaden the descriptive capability of the formula. The
format of floral formulae differs in different parts of the world, yet they
convey the same information.
The structure of a flower can also be expressed by the means
of floral diagrams. The use of schematic diagrams can replace long descriptions
or complicated drawings as a tool for understanding both floral structure and
evolution. Such diagrams may show important features of flowers, including the
relative positions of the various organs, including the presence of fusion and
symmetry, as well as structural details.
Development
A flower develops on a modified shoot or axis from a
determinate apical meristem (determinate meaning the axis grows to a set size).
It has compressed internodes, bearing structures that in classical plant
morphology are interpreted as highly modified leaves. Detailed
developmental studies, however, have shown that stamens are often initiated
more or less like modified stems (caulomes) that in some cases may even
resemble branchlets.[5][1] Taking into account the whole diversity in the
development of the androecium of flowering plants, we find a continuum between
modified leaves (phyllomes), modified stems (caulomes), and modified branchlets
(shoots).
Flowering transition
The transition to flowering is one of the major phase
changes that a plant makes during its life cycle. The transition must take
place at a time that is favorable for fertilization and the formation of seeds,
hence ensuring maximal reproductive success. To meet these needs a plant is
able to interpret important endogenous and environmental cues such as changes
in levels of plant hormones and seasonable temperature and photoperiod
changes. Many perennial and most biennial plants require vernalization to
flower. The molecular interpretation of these signals is through the
transmission of a complex signal known as florigen, which involves a variety of
genes, including CONSTANS, FLOWERING LOCUS C and FLOWERING LOCUS T. Florigen is
produced in the leaves in reproductively favorable conditions and acts in buds
and growing tips to induce a number of different physiological and
morphological changes.
The first step of the transition is the transformation of
the vegetative stem primordia into floral primordia. This occurs as biochemical
changes take place to change cellular differentiation of leaf, bud and stem
tissues into tissue that will grow into the reproductive organs. Growth of the
central part of the stem tip stops or flattens out and the sides develop
protuberances in a whorled or spiral fashion around the outside of the stem
end. These protuberances develop into the sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels.
Once this process begins, in most plants, it cannot be reversed and the stems
develop flowers, even if the initial start of the flower formation event was
dependent of some environmental cue. Once the process begins, even if that
cue is removed the stem will continue to develop a flower.
Yvonne Aitken has shown that flowering transition depends on
a number of factors, and that plants flowering earliest under given conditions
had the least dependence on climate whereas later-flowering varieties reacted
strongly to the climate setup.
Organ development
Main article: ABC model of flower development
The ABC model of flower development
The molecular control of floral organ identity determination
appears to be fairly well understood in some species. In a simple model, three
gene activities interact in a combinatorial manner to determine the
developmental identities of the organ primordia within the floral meristem.
These gene functions are called A, B and C-gene functions. In the first floral
whorl only A-genes are expressed, leading to the formation of sepals. In the
second whorl both A- and B-genes are expressed, leading to the formation of
petals. In the third whorl, B and C genes interact to form stamens and in the
center of the flower C-genes alone give rise to carpels. The model is based
upon studies of mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana and snapdragon, Antirrhinum
majus. For example, when there is a loss of B-gene function, mutant flowers are
produced with sepals in the first whorl as usual, but also in the second whorl
instead of the normal petal formation. In the third whorl the lack of B
function but presence of C-function mimics the fourth whorl, leading to the
formation of carpels also in the third whorl.
Most genes central in this model belong to the MADS-box
genes and are transcription factors that regulate the expression of the genes
specific for each floral organ.
Floral function
See also: Plant reproductive morphology
A "perfect flower", this Crateva religiosa flower
has both stamens (outer ring) and a pistil (center).
The principal purpose of a flower is the reproduction of the
individual and the species. All flowering plants are heterosporous, producing
two types of spores. Microspores are produced by meiosis inside anthers while
megaspores are produced inside ovules, inside an ovary. In fact, anthers
typically consist of four microsporangia and an ovule is an integumented
megasporangium. Both types of spores develop into gametophytes inside
sporangia. As with all heterosporous plants, the gametophytes also develop
inside the spores (are endosporic).
In the majority of species, individual flowers have both
functional carpels and stamens. Botanists describe these flowers as being
perfect or bisexual and the species as hermaphroditic. Some flowers lack one or
the other reproductive organ and called imperfect or unisexual. If unisex
flowers are found on the same individual plant but in different locations, the
species is said to be monoecious. If each type of unisex flower is found only
on separate individuals, the plant is dioecious.
Flower specialization and pollination
Further information: Pollination syndrome
Flowering plants usually face selective pressure to optimize
the transfer of their pollen, and this is typically reflected in the morphology
of the flowers and the behaviour of the plants. Pollen may be transferred
between plants via a number of 'vectors'. Some plants make use of abiotic
vectors — namely wind (anemophily) or, much less commonly, water (hydrophily).
Others use biotic vectors including insects (entomophily), birds
(ornithophily), bats (chiropterophily) or other animals. Some plants make use
of multiple vectors, but many are highly specialised.
Cleistogamous flowers are self-pollinated, after which they
may or may not open. Many Viola and some Salvia species are known to have these
types of flowers.
The flowers of plants that make use of biotic pollen vectors
commonly have glands called nectaries that act as an incentive for animals to
visit the flower. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show
pollinators where to look for nectar. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent
and color. Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species
of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color,
shape, and scent. Flowers are also specialized in shape and have an arrangement
of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of
the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen,
or a mate). In pursuing this attractant from many flowers of the same species,
the pollinator transfers pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed
precision—of all of the flowers it visits.
Anemophilous flowers use the wind to move pollen from one
flower to the next. Examples include grasses, birch trees, ragweed and maples.
They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be
"showy" flowers. Male and female reproductive organs are generally
found in separate flowers, the male flowers having a number of long filaments
terminating in exposed stamens, and the female flowers having long,
feather-like stigmas. Whereas the pollen of animal-pollinated flowers tends to
be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for
pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light,
and of little nutritional value to animals.
Pollination
Main article: Pollination
Grains of pollen sticking to this bee will be transferred to
the next flower it visits
The primary purpose of a flower is reproduction. Since the
flowers are the reproductive organs of plant, they mediate the joining of the
sperm, contained within pollen, to the ovules — contained in the ovary.
Pollination is the movement of pollen from the anthers to the stigma. The
joining of the sperm to the ovules is called fertilization. Normally pollen is
moved from one plant to another, but many plants are able to self pollinate.
The fertilized ovules produce seeds that are the next generation. Sexual reproduction
produces genetically unique offspring, allowing for adaptation. Flowers have
specific designs which encourages the transfer of pollen from one plant to
another of the same species. Many plants are dependent upon external factors
for pollination, including: wind and animals, and especially insects. Even
large animals such as birds, bats, and pygmy possums can be employed. The
period of time during which this process can take place (the flower is fully
expanded and functional) is called anthesis. The study of pollination by
insects is called anthecology.
Pollination mechanism
The pollination mechanism employed by a plant depends on
what method of pollination is utilized.
Most flowers can be divided between two broad groups of
pollination methods:
Entomophilous: flowers attract and use insects, bats, birds
or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next. Often they are
specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that
pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in
search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate). In pursuing this
attractant from many flowers of the same species, the pollinator transfers
pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed precision—of all of the
flowers it visits. Many flowers rely on simple proximity between flower parts
to ensure pollination. Others, such as the Sarracenia or lady-slipper orchids,
have elaborate designs to ensure pollination while preventing self-pollination.
Grass flower with vestigial perianth or lodicules
Anemophilous: flowers use the wind to move pollen from one
flower to the next, examples include the grasses, Birch trees, Ragweed and
Maples. They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to grow
large blossoms. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be
large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for
pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light,
and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered in
times of dearth. Honeybees and bumblebees actively gather anemophilous corn
(maize) pollen, though it is of little value to them.
Some flowers with both stamens and a pistil are capable of
self-fertilization, which does increase the chance of producing seeds but
limits genetic variation. The extreme case of self-fertilization occurs in
flowers that always self-fertilize, such as many dandelions. Some flowers are
self-pollinated and use flowers that never open or are self-pollinated before
the flowers open, these flowers are called cleistogamous. Many Viola species
and some Salvia have these types of flowers. Conversely, many species of plants
have ways of preventing self-fertilization. Unisexual male and female flowers
on the same plant may not appear or mature at the same time, or pollen from the
same plant may be incapable of fertilizing its ovules. The latter flower types,
which have chemical barriers to their own pollen, are referred to as
self-sterile or self-incompatible.
Attraction methods
A Bee orchid has evolved over many generations to better
mimic a female bee to attract male bees as pollinators.
Plants cannot move from one location to another, thus many
flowers have evolved to attract animals to transfer pollen between individuals
in dispersed populations. Flowers that are insect-pollinated are called
entomophilous; literally "insect-loving" in Greek. They can be highly
modified along with the pollinating insects by co-evolution. Flowers commonly
have glands called nectaries on various parts that attract animals looking for
nutritious nectar. Birds and bees have color vision, enabling them to seek out
"colorful" flowers.
Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show
pollinators where to look for nectar; they may be visible only under
ultraviolet light, which is visible to bees and some other insects. Flowers
also attract pollinators by scent and some of those scents are pleasant to our
sense of smell. Not all flower scents are appealing to humans; a number of
flowers are pollinated by insects that are attracted to rotten flesh and have
flowers that smell like dead animals, often called Carrion flowers, including
Rafflesia, the titan arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Flowers
pollinated by night visitors, including bats and moths, are likely to
concentrate on scent to attract pollinators and most such flowers are white.
Other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some
species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in
color, shape, and scent. Male bees move from one such flower to another in
search of a mate.
Flower-pollinator relationships
Many flowers have close relationships with one or a few
specific pollinating organisms. Many flowers, for example, attract only one
specific species of insect, and therefore rely on that insect for successful
reproduction. This close relationship is often given as an example of
coevolution, as the flower and pollinator are thought to have developed together
over a long period of time to match each other's needs.
This close relationship compounds the negative effects of
extinction. The extinction of either member in such a relationship would mean
almost certain extinction of the other member as well. Some endangered plant
species are so because of shrinking pollinator populations.
Pollen allergy
There is much confusion about the role of flowers in
allergies. For example, the showy and entomophilous goldenrod (Solidago) is
frequently blamed for respiratory allergies, of which it is innocent, since its
pollen cannot be airborne. The types of pollen that most commonly cause
allergic reactions are produced by the plain-looking plants (trees, grasses,
and weeds) that do not have showy flowers. These plants make small, light, dry
pollen grains that are custom-made for wind transport.
The type of allergens in the pollen is the main factor that
determines whether the pollen is likely to cause hay fever. For example, pine
tree pollen is produced in large amounts by a common tree, which would make it
a good candidate for causing allergy. It is, however, a relatively rare cause
of allergy because the types of allergens in pine pollen appear to make it less
allergenic. Instead the allergen is usually the pollen of the contemporary
bloom of anemophilous ragweed (Ambrosia), which can drift for many miles. Scientists
have collected samples of ragweed pollen 400 miles out at sea and 2 miles high
in the air.[17] A single ragweed plant can generate a million grains of pollen
per day.[18]
Among North American plants, weeds are the most prolific
producers of allergenic pollen.[19] Ragweed is the major culprit, but other
important sources are sagebrush, redroot pigweed, lamb's quarters, Russian
thistle (tumbleweed), and English plantain.
It is common to hear people say they are allergic to
colorful or scented flowers like roses. In fact, only florists, gardeners, and
others who have prolonged, close contact with flowers are likely to be
sensitive to pollen from these plants. Most people have little contact with the
large, heavy, waxy pollen grains of such flowering plants because this type of
pollen is not carried by wind but by insects such as butterflies and bees.
While land plants have existed for about 425 million years,
the first ones reproduced by a simple adaptation of their aquatic counterparts:
spores. In the sea, plants—and some animals—can simply scatter out genetic
clones of themselves to float away and grow elsewhere. This is how early plants
reproduced. But plants soon evolved methods of protecting these copies to deal
with drying out and other damage which is even more likely on land than in the
sea. The protection became the seed, though it had not yet evolved the flower.
Early seed-bearing plants include the ginkgo and conifers.
Several groups of extinct gymnosperms, particularly seed
ferns, have been proposed as the ancestors of flowering plants but there is no
continuous fossil evidence showing exactly how flowers evolved. The apparently
sudden appearance of relatively modern flowers in the fossil record posed such
a problem for the theory of evolution that it was called an "abominable
mystery" by Charles Darwin. Recently discovered angiosperm fossils such as
Archaefructus, along with further discoveries of fossil gymnosperms, suggest
how angiosperm characteristics may have been acquired in a series of steps. An
early fossil of a flowering plant, Archaefructus liaoningensis from China, is
dated about 125 million years old. Even earlier from China is the
125–130 million years old Archaefructus sinensis. Now, another plant (130
million-year-old Montsechia vidalii, discovered in Spain) takes the title of
world's oldest flower from Archaefructus sinensis.
Amborella trichopoda may have characteristic features of the
earliest flowering plants
Recent DNA analysis (molecular systematics)shows that
Amborella trichopoda, found on the Pacific island of New Caledonia, is the only
species in the sister group to the rest of the flowering plants, and
morphological studies suggest that it has features which may have been
characteristic of the earliest flowering plants.
While there is only hard proof of such flowers existing
about 130 million years ago, there is some circumstantial evidence that they
did exist up to 250 million years ago. A chemical used by plants to defend
their flowers, oleanane, has been detected in fossil plants that old, including
gigantopterids, which evolved at that time and bear many of the traits of
modern, flowering plants, though they are not known to be flowering plants
themselves, because only their stems and prickles have been found preserved in
detail; one of the earliest examples of petrification.
In August 2017, scientists presented a detailed description
and 3D model image of possibly the first flower that lived about 140 million
years ago.
The similarity in leaf and stem structure can be very
important, because flowers are genetically just an adaptation of normal leaf
and stem components on plants, a combination of genes normally responsible for
forming new shoots.The most primitive flowers are thought to have had a
variable number of flower parts, often separate from (but in contact with) each
other. The flowers would have tended to grow in a spiral pattern, to be
bisexual (in plants, this means both male and female parts on the same flower),
and to be dominated by the ovary (female part). As flowers grew more advanced,
some variations developed parts fused together, with a much more specific
number and design, and with either specific sexes per flower or plant, or at
least "ovary inferior".
The general assumption is that the function of flowers, from
the start, was to involve animals in the reproduction process. Pollen can be
scattered without bright colors and obvious shapes, which would therefore be a
liability, using the plant's resources, unless they provide some other benefit.
One proposed reason for the sudden, fully developed appearance of flowers is
that they evolved in an isolated setting like an island, or chain of islands,
where the plants bearing them were able to develop a highly specialized
relationship with some specific animal (a wasp, for example), the way many
island species develop today. This symbiotic relationship, with a hypothetical
wasp bearing pollen from one plant to another much the way fig wasps do today,
could have eventually resulted in both the plant(s) and their partners
developing a high degree of specialization. Island genetics is believed to be a
common source of speciation, especially when it comes to radical adaptations
which seem to have required inferior transitional forms. Note that the wasp
example is not incidental; bees, apparently evolved specifically for symbiotic
plant relationships, are descended from wasps.
Likewise, most fruit used in plant reproduction comes from
the enlargement of parts of the flower. This fruit is frequently a tool which
depends upon animals wishing to eat it, and thus scattering the seeds it
contains.
While many such symbiotic relationships remain too fragile
to survive competition with mainland organisms, flowers proved to be an
unusually effective means of production, spreading (whatever their actual
origin) to become the dominant form of land plant life.
Flower evolution continues to the present day; modern
flowers have been so profoundly influenced by humans that many of them cannot
be pollinated in nature. Many modern, domesticated flowers used to be simple
weeds, which only sprouted when the ground was disturbed. Some of them tended
to grow with human crops, and the prettiest did not get plucked because of
their beauty, developing a dependence upon and special adaptation to human
affection.
Color
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Reflectance spectra for the flowers of several varieties of
rose. A red rose absorbs about 99.7% of light across a broad area below the red
wavelengths of the spectrum, leading to an exceptionally pure red. A yellow
rose will reflect about 5% of blue light, producing an unsaturated yellow (a
yellow with a degree of white in it).
Many flowering plants reflect as much light as possible
within the range of visible wavelengths of the pollinator the plant intends to
attract. Flowers that reflect the full range of visible light are generally
perceived as white by a human observer. An important feature of white flowers
is that they reflect equally across the visible spectrum. While many flowering
plants use white to attract pollinators, the use of color is also widespread
(even within the same species). Color allows a flowering plant to be more
specific about the pollinator it seeks to attract. The color model used by
human color reproduction technology (CMYK) relies on the modulation of pigments
that divide the spectrum into broad areas of absorption. Flowering plants by
contrast are able to shift the transition point wavelength between absorption
and reflection. If it is assumed that the visual systems of most pollinators
view the visible spectrum as circular then it may be said that flowering plants
produce color by absorbing the light in one region of the spectrum and
reflecting the light in the other region. With CMYK, color is produced as a
function of the amplitude of the broad regions of absorption. Flowering plants
by contrast produce color by modifying the frequency (or rather wavelength) of
the light reflected. Most flowers absorb light in the blue to yellow region of
the spectrum and reflect light from the green to red region of the spectrum.
For many species of flowering plant, it is the transition point that
characterizes the color that they produce. Color may be modulated by shifting
the transition point between absorption and reflection and in this way a
flowering plant may specify which pollinator it seeks to attract. Some
flowering plants also have a limited ability to modulate areas of absorption.
This is typically not as precise as control over wavelength. Humans observers
will perceive this as degrees of saturation (the amount of white in the color).
Symbolism
Lilies are often used to denote life or resurrection
Main article: Language of flowers
Many flowers have important symbolic meanings in Western
culture.The practice of assigning meanings to flowers is known as
floriography. Some of the more common examples include:
Red roses are
given as a symbol of love, beauty, and passion.
Poppies are a
symbol of consolation in time of death. In the United Kingdom, New Zealand,
Australia and Canada, red poppies are worn to commemorate soldiers who have
died in times of war.
Irises/Lily are
used in burials as a symbol referring to "resurrection/life". It is
also associated with stars (sun) and its petals blooming/shining.
Daisies are a
symbol of innocence.
Flowers are common subjects of still life paintings, such as
this one by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder
Because of their varied and colorful appearance, flowers
have long been a favorite subject of visual artists as well. Some of the most
celebrated paintings from well-known painters are of flowers, such as Van
Gogh's sunflowers series or Monet's water lilies. Flowers are also dried,
freeze dried and pressed in order to create permanent, three-dimensional pieces
of flower art.
Flowers within art are also representative of the female genitalia,as
seen in the works of artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Imogen Cunningham,
Veronica Ruiz de Velasco, and Judy Chicago, and in fact in Asian and western
classical art. Many cultures around the world have a marked tendency to
associate flowers with femininity.
The great variety of delicate and beautiful flowers has
inspired the works of numerous poets, especially from the 18th–19th century
Romantic era. Famous examples include William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as
a Cloud and William Blake's Ah! Sun-Flower.
Their symbolism in dreams has also been discussed, with
possible interpretations including "blossoming potential".
The Roman goddess of flowers, gardens, and the season of
Spring is Flora. The Greek goddess of spring, flowers and nature is Chloris.
In Hindu mythology, flowers have a significant status.
Vishnu, one of the three major gods in the Hindu system, is often depicted
standing straight on a lotus flower. Apart from the association with
Vishnu, the Hindu tradition also considers the lotus to have spiritual
significance. For example, it figures in the Hindu stories of creation
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