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Entomophily or insect pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only of flowering plants, is distributed by insects. Flowers pollinated by insects typically advertise themselves with bright colours, sometimes with conspicuous patterns (honey guides) leading to rewards of pollen and nectar ; they may also ...
Plants fall into pollination syndromes that reflect the type of pollinator being attracted. These are characteristics such as: overall flower size, the depth and width of the corolla, the color (including patterns called nectar guides that are visible only in ultraviolet light), the scent, amount of nectar, composition of nectar, etc. [2] For example, birds visit red flowers with long, narrow ...
Pollination is necessary for plants to continue their populations and 3/4 of the plant species that contribute to the world's food supply are plants that require pollinators. [78] Insect pollinators, like bees, are large contributors to crop production, over 200 billion dollars worth of crop species are pollinated by these insects. [71]
Furthermore, flower structures that evolved to trap insects to accomplish pollination are found in many monocot genera. [1] In relation to flower arrangement alone, plants with perfect flowers should be most likely to self-pollinate while dioecious plants should be most likely to cross-pollinate.
The flowers are insect pollinated, and various thistle species are widely known as important food sources for butterflies, as well as bees. Goldfinches love to feed on this abundant thistle ...
Their flowers tend to be small and inconspicuous with many pollen grains and large, feathery stigmas to catch the pollen. However, this is relatively uncommon (only 2% of pollination is hydrophily) and most aquatic plants are insect-pollinated, with flowers that emerge into the air. Vallisneria is an example. [citation needed]
Some flowers are self-pollinated and have flowers that never open or are self-pollinated before the flowers open; these flowers are called cleistogamous; many species in the genus Viola exhibit this, for example. [88] Conversely, many species of plants have ways of preventing self-pollination and hence, self-fertilization.
The perianth is reduced to two scales, called lodicules, [1]: 11 that expand and contract to spread the lemma and palea; these are generally interpreted to be modified sepals. The flowers are usually hermaphroditic — maize being an important exception — and mainly anemophilous or wind-pollinated, although insects occasionally play a role. [2]