ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Why Flowers Are Important

Updated on November 4, 2012
Miss Magnolia Is A Sweet And Sexy Southern Pearl
Miss Magnolia Is A Sweet And Sexy Southern Pearl | Source

There is an old song that tells about the flowers and the trees, the birds and the bees, the moon up above, and a thing called love.

Flowers symbolize romance and love. We send them to our Valentines and picked them for our mother as a child. And what would a wedding be without flowers! It's not only love that makes the world go 'round, it is also flowers. But not just because we wear them to proms or draw them on greeting cards. Without flowering plants the whole structure of the flora and fauna kingdoms would be drastically altered.

It is important to understand the function of flowers and the pollination process. Environmental changes can affect pollinators like bees and other insects. Already there are failed colonies of bees that have occurred. Organic gardening offers solutions for controlling pests without the risk of harming the pollinator population.

Gardeners may notice that the squash, zucchini and other flowering vegetables lose some of their blooms without producing. There are things that can be done to help the "sex life" of their plants. Salvia and Mexican Heather are two plants that seem to attract more bees than others. Adding these type of flowers can ensure better pollination.

The gardener himself can even do the pollinating. Many garden plants like squash and melons have male and female flowers. The female flower will have a tiny vegetable at the bottom. The male flower does not. The gardener can break open the male bloom and touch the important male part helping to inject the pollen into the female bloom.


5 Seeds Magnolia Flower Seed Tree Bush White!rare!
5 Seeds Magnolia Flower Seed Tree Bush White!rare!
Contrary to popular belief, magnolias can grow in the northeast and midwest if it is of a hardy variety.
 

Evolution Of Flowering Plants

Dinosaurs and seedless plants, among other things, disappeared during the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period. These extinctions left plenty of niches open into which flowering plants could move. Species could grow and prosper. Geologically speaking, their evolution happened quickly and alongside the diversification of insects, birds and other small animals. It became a matter of survival of the species, and flowering plants continue to make important adaptions.

How Flowers Reproduce

Perhaps because flowering plants evolved along with small animal life like butterflies and birds they share some basic traits that can classify them as living things. One of them is reproduction. They reproduce sexually.

Plants have:

sex organs

reproductive cycles

sperm

ovum

ovaries

cells that have chromosomes

embryos

We can examine the reproductive properties of plants without getting too technical and keep things on the "flowery" side. Then we can better understand the survival of all species of plant and animal life.


The bright color and sweet smell of this Hibiscus  will attract bees and other pollinators
The bright color and sweet smell of this Hibiscus will attract bees and other pollinators | Source

Importance Of Pollen

Flowers don't bay at the moon, do strange dances or make funny noises to conjure up love-making for sexual reproduction. Insects and other animals use high protein pollen and sugary nectar for food. The bright colors and sweet smells of flowers help to attract the pollinators to them. What animal is this like? If you said Homo Sapiens, you are correct! These pollinators are super transporters of pollen. Flowers won't have to make as much pollen as other plants for the species to survive.

The flowers of plants need pollen from other flowers to make seeds. Does this remind you of animals in any way? Of course it does!

When pollen comes in contact with the female parts of another flower, the reproductive cycle begins.

It is easy to see the pistil, stigma, stamen and style on this day lily, a monocot.
It is easy to see the pistil, stigma, stamen and style on this day lily, a monocot. | Source
The black berry, a dicot, loses its blooms when the fruit, or ovary starts to grow.
The black berry, a dicot, loses its blooms when the fruit, or ovary starts to grow. | Source

Classification Of Flowering Plants

Embryos

At the cellular level, plants have diploid and haploid cells as animals do. The cells divide and the chromosomes are halved. Like humans and other animals the flowering plant begins life as a fertilized egg that grows into an embryo, or an organism at the early stage of life. Unlike animals, scientists use the number of cotyledons, or embryos called seed leaves to classify flowering plants into two groups-monocots and dicots.

Monocots and Dicots

Monocots have one seed leaf while dicots have two. Some familiar monocots are different lilies and cereal grains. Black berries, raspberries, broccoli and cabbages are examples of dicots.

As the embryo develops the seed leaf will either stay inside the seed coat for food or break out and turn green. The baby plant is ready to be nourished by the nutrients in soil, using water and sunlight to make it's own food.

It is the remarkable capability of making it's own food that has helped all plants evolve and survive. They in turn provide food for all animals either directly or indirectly. Flowering plants are the biggest survivors of all with over 240,000 species.

This young ovary will grow and and ripen into a juicy delicious peach.
This young ovary will grow and and ripen into a juicy delicious peach. | Source

Reproductive Parts Of Flowers

Some flowers have both male and female parts. Others have only male or female parts. Some plants will even have both male and female flowers on the same plant.

The female's parts are called carpels. In most flowers the carpels fuse together to form a pistil. The pistil has three parts: the stigma, style and ovary. Just as in female animals, the eggs are stored here until they are fertilized. Also, as in the animal world, plants can only fertilize eggs of the same species.

The male reproductive parts are called stamens. The stamens have two parts, the filament and the anther. The filament supports the anther which is where pollen is produced.

If the garden is short on pollinators the gardener can learn to identify the male and female flower parts and become a pollinator himself!
If the garden is short on pollinators the gardener can learn to identify the male and female flower parts and become a pollinator himself! | Source

Reproductive Cycle Of Flowering Plants

Pollen produced by the anther is transferred to the stigma of the female flower by pollinators. If the flowers are small it will usually be the wind that does this, and these tiny flowers survive by making more pollen. After the pollen lands on the stigma the pollen travels through the style, or tube that leads to the ovaries. When the ovules are fertilized they will develop into seeds. The petals of the flower fall off and leave the ovary to develop into a fruit. A fruit can be anything from a juicy peach or squash to a sunflower seed hull. The job of the fruit is to enclose and protect the seeds, another mode of survival that the flowering plant adapted.

Lifespan Of Flowering Plants

Now the flowering plant has reproduced and the fertilized ovum has passed from embryo to adulthood. It will have one of three types of lifespans. It is helpful for the gardener to know what the lifespan is to determine which plants have to be replaced and when.

annual: produce flowers and die in one year. corn, squash, lettuce, watermelons and zinnias are some common annuals.

biennial: flowering plants with a lifespan of two years. produce short stem with underground food storage the first year. food reserve is used the second year to produce flowers and seeds. carrots, hollyhocks, foxglove, black-eyed susan are common biennials.

perennial: a flowering plant that lives more than two years. woody plants like trees are perennials. day lilies, hostas, irises and roses are favorite perennial flowers

10 Most Popular Ornamental Flowering Plants World Wide

Flower
Lifespan
Care Tips
Sunflower
Annual
Plant in groups. Full sun.
Wildflower
Perrenial & Annual
Grows in fields, meadows, woods. Can buy special mixed seed packets
Lilac
Perrenial
Provide good drainage, tolerates poor soil, attracts butterflies
Carnation
Annual
Full sun, moist loamy soil
Orchid
Perrenial
Special light & temperatires needed
Lily
Perrenial
well drained soil, can take some shade,many varieties
Tulip
Perrenial, but often planted as annual
full sun, sandy soil,good drainage
Primrose
Perrenial
Shade, moist soil, first flower of Spring
Rose
Perrenial
well drained soil, full sun, prune and fertilize
Iris
Perrenial
well drained soil, full sun, grows from rhizomes
Buy wildflower seeds in mixed packets. Plant densely
Buy wildflower seeds in mixed packets. Plant densely | Source

Wildflowers

Wildflowers are the second most popular flower in the world. They grow in fields,meadow and woods all over the world. They can be seen growing along busy interstate highways. There are even wildflowers that have adapted to life in the desserts. Wildflowers are important to the environment. They turn carbon dioxide into breathable air. They are like nature's air fresheners.

Wildflowers can be grown from purchased packets. Choose mixed seeds or seeds indigenous to your area. Plant them densely to help keep out the unwanted s.

Vote For Your Favorite Flower

Which one of the top 10 flowers world wide is your favorite?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)