It’s almost spring: time for sultry nights, birds, bees, renewal and the sweet promise of new love.
For us humans, that might mean flirty skirts, a new perfume, a dapper new hat or hip hair cut, all in the hopes of attracting a new, or very old and loyal, perfect mate. Plants also feel the call of spring and respond. They too show off their brightest colors, excrete their most seductive scents and attempt to lure a mate. Of course, plants can’t move (very quickly), so they hire a pollinating partner, and pay them to assist with reproduction.
Pollination is the act of moving pollen from the male anther to the female stigma. Plants work hard to attract these pollinators, and nectar is their delicious reward. Plants and their flowers take their job of attracting so seriously, that they have evolved to become irresistible to their pollinator. Pollinators, in turn, have adapted to a particular plant. Some of these Co-evolved partners have become so exclusive, that one could not survive without the other. Thus, attracting that pollinator is vital. Perhaps, with these tricks of attraction, we can all have a successful spring!
Like some humans, snapdragons have stooped to trapping. As an unsuspecting bee, just interested in a good dinner, sits on a lower petal, their weight causes the stamen to tip downward and dump dusty pollen on the bee’s fuzzy body to carry onward.
The honeysuckle takes advantage of those who prefer the nightlife. Nocturnal moths are turned on by the pale white flowers that glow in the moon light and the alluring nighttime scent.
The African Raflessia flower knows that their partner has an unusual fetish and radiates a once-a-year stench of rotting flesh. Its petals peel away, revealing a brownish, fleshy color and the smitten flies come at once.
Queen Anne’s lace takes pity on pollinators with short proboscises (ahem…) and offers pollen at the base of their tiny flowers, where bees, ants, wasps and beetles can easily dine.
The columbine flower offers very potent nectar in a bright, red, long flower: perfect for the active hummingbird with their long tongue and penchant for the color red.
In Madagascar, The 40ft Travelers Tree attracts the black and white ruffed lemur to climb the trunk, pull apart the flower bracts and stick their snout and tongues deep inside the flower. Nobody could do it better.
The agave plant works hard to attract the long-nosed bat with its night-blooming, tall flowers and strong nectar. (So if you were planning on a date that included tequila, you and the agave may thank a bat).
Now, why should we care about all of this wild romance? One reason is that one out of every three bites we take comes from a pollinated plant. Another is that without pollinating partners, we would miss out on such aphrodisiacs as strawberries, blueberries, garlic and chocolate.
So this spring, on your next dinner date, thank a pollinator for the delicious meal and know that the plants and I wish you the best of luck and love.
To learn more about pollinators, visit www.coevolution.org and attend a lecture on April 3rd at The Oakland Zoo: Connecting Pollinators, Plants and People with Laurie Adams (www.oaklandzoo.org/news_and_events/detail/248).
Amy Gotliffe is Conservation Manager at The Oakland Zoo.
Do-it-yourself tabletop biosphere..Last season, QUEST TV went on a field trip to the Maker Faire to see some of the wacky do-it-yourself things coming out of people’s garage work shops. This season, we took Quest Radio Editor Andrea Kissack out to the Make Magazine Test Lab to tinker and experiment with some of our favorite DIY science projects.
Watch the “MAKE it at Home: Table-Top Biosphere” TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.
Chris Bauer is a Segment Producer for television on QUEST.
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