Christine Angela
Writing A
To most humans, flowers are seen as objects to
decorate homes, gardens, bodies, and more. However, flowers have a much more
important purpose than decorating. Flowers are the part of plants that make
seeds which in turn make new plants. In order to make a seed, pollen from one
flower has to combine with the eggs from another flower; this is called
pollination. Flowers are highly adapted to attract their specific pollinators
such as bees, flies, moths, hummingbirds, and bats just to name a few. This is
why flowers are brightly colored and highly scented making them the beautiful
creations that they are. The facts about flowers are that without them, we
would not have food, medicines, dyes, textiles, and other necessities of daily
living. There are so many interesting facts about flowers!
Interesting Facts about Flowers
- Flowers did not
always exist; they first appeared 140 million years ago. Before that,
ferns and cone bearing trees dominated the earth.
- Several centuries ago in Holland, tulips were more valuable than gold.
- Broccoli is
actually a flower.
- Some plants such
as orchids do not need soil to grow-they get all of their nutrients from
the air.
- Some plants
produce toxic substances that kill other plants around them-the sunflower
is an example.
- Carnivorous
plants are flowering plants that eat bugs and small animals! For example,
the Venus fly trap has leaves covered by little hairs. When a bug lands on
the hairs, the trap snaps shut and digestive juices digest the bug. Other
carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants have leaves that form pitchers
that are full of digestive fluids. Insects, frogs, and other small
creatures are attracted to the nectar and bright colors on the pitchers
and flowers. Some unfortunate critters fall in, drown, and are digested.
