Using a mobile stamen to slap away insect visitors maximizes pollination and minimizes costs to flowers, a study shows. For centuries scientists have observed that when a visiting insect's tongue ...

When blooms appear on our fruit trees or vegetable gardens, we happily anticipate a bountiful harvest. If the bees help by doing their pollinating job, the fruits and vegetables should begin to ...

Flowers used to come with understood meanings. Marigolds were for the jealous and aggrieved; ambrosias a sign of love returned. Dumas fil’s heroine in Camille carried white camellias when in the mood ...

Even more surprising was the finding that the birds do not feed on nectar as in most other bird-pollinated plants but consume the male reproductive organs (the stamens) while visiting the flowers. It ...

Insect-pollination of flowering plants is responsible for the majority of the world’s flowering diversity and is an essential part of plant reproduction. Flowers have bright colours, smells and nectar ...

New research by scientists at the University of Toronto offers novel insights into why and how dozens of flowering plant species evolved from being pollinated by insects to being pollinated by wind.

For centuries scientists have observed that when a visiting insect's tongue touches the nectar-producing parts of certain flowers, the pollen-containing stamen snaps forward. The new study proves that ...