Raindrops drive flower evolution
By MATT WALKER - BBC EARTH NEWS
Added: Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:00:00 UTC
Thanks to evotruth for the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8186000/8186098.stmA study of 80 species has revealed that flowers evolve different shapes and structures in part to prevent their pollen getting wet.
Other flowers get round the problem by evolving waterproof pollen.
The finding may help explain why so many species in rainy areas either have droopy flowers or close their petals.
Many researchers, including Charles Darwin, have speculated that flowers may have evolved certain traits or structures to protect themselves against the damaging effects of rain, which can wash away pollen grains and dilute nectar.
But few have experimentally tested the idea.
So Yun-Yun Mao and Shuang-Quan Huang of Wuhan University in China decided to do just that by studying the response to rain and water of 80 species of flower living locally around the University's campus and in the nearby Wuhan Botanical Garden.
...
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