Science has discovered why sunflowers move when they look at the sun

East-facing sunflowers are happier, Healthy and fruitful than those facing other directions, and all thanks to the warmth of the morning sun.

That’s the conclusion of a new study that sought to find out why yellow flowers are so exhilarating. Tends to mature looking east, Despite the more resilient youngsters who change direction to face the moving sun, reports say Scientific alert.

Increased heat and sunshine Attract more bees in the morning, which results in better growth, earlier production of pollen, more abundant seeds, and Greater reproductive success.

“It’s quite surprising that they’re looking east,” said plant biologist Stacey Harmer of the University of California, Davis. You better look east from now on. Produce more offspring.

During growth, young sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) exhibit a certain behavior: head, or head, It moves to follow the sun Across the sky, as seen in the video (above).

In previous research published in 2016, Harmer and colleagues found that this marker helps both plant and flower growth and attract pollinators, they report. Scientific alert.

However, when a sunflower ripens, its stalk hardens, which too limiting the movement. When this happens, the class moves to the east.

Why sunflowers do this remained a mystery to researchers in 2016, so another team led by UC Davis biologist Nikki Crooks devised an experiment to find out, he reports. Scientific alert.

They finally understand why

One way to see why something is doing what it does is to reposition it so that it doesn’t. With a sunflower facing east, it’s very simple, just devoélvelos.

That’s exactly what the researchers did, they reported, taking measurements and comparing normal east-facing controls with west-facing sunflowers. Scientific alert.

The first thing the researchers noticed was that the east-facing flowers attracted a There are a lot of bees the morning. For the rest of the day, the bees showed no preference, indicating that this morning window can make a big difference.

As the sunflowers began facing east Release pollen early in the morning, about 30 minutes, an hour that exactly coincided with the time difference between peak hours for pollinators’ visit, according to reports. Scientific alert.

Follow-up analysis indicates that it is all about the separation temperature. The sun warms the flower head, What are the causes of pollen release? When artificially heated, flowers exposed to the west exhibited a similar pollen-releasing behavior.

Interestingly, this artificial warming didn’t make a difference in pollinator visits, although it’s not entirely clear why, he says. Scientific alert.

Attractive bright flowers

The researchers think that the markings on flowers visible to pollinators under ultraviolet sunlight may have something to do with this: In east-facing sunflowers, The flowers were shining These signs were more pronounced.

The effect on sunflowers was also noticeable. East-facing sunflowers are produced Heavier and more abundant seeds From those who look to the West. And pollen from east-facing sunflowers appears to have been more successful in producing offspring.

The researchers found this with surrounding sunflowers producing only seeds and no pollen, while sunflowers face east and west. Scientific alert.

Using genotyping, they determined whether seed plants were pollinated with pollen from the east or west. Sunflower production is significantly exposed to the east More offspring From those who look to the West.

All of this suggests that while looking east may not be the absolute key to sunflower success, it does give enough boost to make it worth your while.

“Our results show that the eastern orientation of the mature sunflower heads plays an important role in management climatic flower It ensures the correct conditions for pollination, pollination and seed development,” the researchers wrote in their paper, Science Alert reports.

The research was published in the journal New Phytologist.

GML

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