Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Photography major - Why do peach blossoms bear fruit after being soaked in honey by bees when they are in full bloom?

Why do peach blossoms bear fruit after being soaked in honey by bees when they are in full bloom?

Because peach blossoms need bee pollination to complete the fertilization process, bees will be stained with pollen when picking flowers. Pollen is carried to the pistil by bees, so fertilization is completed and countless fruits are produced.

Cooperation between bees and plants;

About two thirds of seed plants are pollinated by insects. Plants provide insects with nectar containing 50% sugar, pollen containing 15-30% protein, and other useful substances. In Insecta, there are four kinds of insects with pollination function, including Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera.

Bees show coevolution with seed plants and have been studied the most.

Bee has a constant relationship with some angiosperm species because of its superb flying ability and directional activity ability. When pollinating, flowers also send signals to bees in shape and fragrance. For example, prolonged flowering will change the color and fragrance of flowers. It is observed that the flowers of 77 species of plants will change color at different times after opening. Experiments show that bees can distinguish at least 700 different floral scents, and the fragrance of pollen is different from that of flowers. Bees can identify plant species by the smell of pollen. The activities of pollinators contribute to the specialization of flower shapes, such as the formation of tubular petals. For the observation of fossils, we can see that there were many stamens, pistils and petals in the early primitive flowers, which were arranged in a spiral shape, such as the present magnolia. Later, they developed into radial symmetry, and finally became a shape suitable for insect pollination, including the reduction of petals and sepals, the corolla became tubular and the nectary moved to the base. Only insects with long mouthparts can suck nectar. After the Late Cretaceous, symmetrical flower-like shapes, such as those of leguminous plants, were found in the Early Tertiary. The development of flower shape specialization shows that the interaction between Hymenoptera pollinators and angiosperms has reached a new stage.