There is energy transfer between mutually beneficial relationships, so what is the energy transfer between flowers and bees?

The 4th Shanghai International Flower Festival, which is being held in changfeng park, is sending us endless news of spring. The charm of flowers attracts us more strongly than ever before. However, flowers, like people, are actually infinitely complicated. The author of this book is a famous American writer who describes nature. She combined the knowledge of botany with the history of science and introduced us to the evolution, competition, deception and even fighting behind colorful charm. ...

The other side of mutual benefit

Mutual benefit-this is the way we often look at the relationship between pollinators and flowers. The so-called mutually beneficial symbiosis, such as butterfly sucking honeysuckle and exchanging it for pollination, has gradually evolved a interdependent relationship between the two species. However, such a mutually beneficial life is neither mutual benefit nor mutual assistance. In fact, pollination is gradually derived from a completely hostile relationship. The mutual benefit of plants and pollinators is not like marriage, but more like both sides of a military competition.

Botanists use "taking advantage" to describe animals that benefit from mutually beneficial relationships, but they don't return at all. Real pollinators may also be an advantage. Sometimes, bees don't touch pollen-filled anthers from the front of flowers, but approach them from the back, secretly hiding their tongues between sepals and petals and stealing nectar. In the jargon of botanists, such "stealing food" behavior is called "the tongue under it".

When encountering flowers whose crowns have been combined into tubular flowers, insects who want to steal nectar have to bite open the fibers. Bumblebees with short tongues are notorious for piercing the crowns of willow fish, narcissus and aquilegia with their upper jaws. It is more arrogant than stealing, rushing and grabbing nectar, and it will hurt flowers. With this hole, the thieves below can steal nectar unscrupulously.

This is not a kind-hearted world. Flowers try to protect themselves. Some have leathery hard, impenetrable calyx, or have solid, layered leaves or bracts at the base, which makes thieves stay away. Closely arranged inflorescences are also a way.

Because plants can't move, we think they are kinder than animals, which is really a big misunderstanding. As one researcher wrote, "It seems that there are fewer pollinators who cheat on purpose than plants who cheat."

Many flowers have a bad habit of exaggerating their strength. Perhaps the stamens have thick hair or light bright yellow, which makes the pollen of the stamens look more than the actual situation, or the tiny anthers are supported on the obvious thick filaments that look like anthers. Some flowers will make the sterile part of anther swell, causing the illusion of rich nutrition.

Even the most "kind" flowers can be cruel. Take milkweed as an example, its pollen will stick firmly to visiting bees, and sometimes in the process of breaking free, the tangled feet of bees will be torn off alive.

Some plants even form an alliance with the enemy. When hawthorn spider mites eat emperor beans, plants will release several volatiles, which will attract another carnivorous hawthorn spider mite to eat the visitors in front. By forming alliances, unrelated species became close comrades.

Ants like to steal nectar, but most ants carry a natural fungicide, which will kill the sperm in pollen. Obviously, ants are not good pollinators. In view of this, plants sometimes erect roadblocks between the ground and flowers, arrange a sticky area above the stem, or set a circle of liquid around the stem to prevent ants and other insects from climbing up.

Plants will also use nectar as bait to stay away from flowers. Nectar provided by some flowering plants becomes an exchange. It allows a group of biting ants to act as guards to help flowers resist insects that lay eggs or bumblebees that pierce corollas.

Fighting on the grass

The grassland is like a shopping center. When two kinds of flowers are too similar, the competition will be more direct, and one of them may be eliminated. The competition between some plants and different species can be said to be quite fierce.

In the southwest, Tribulus terrestris and a shrub called Erigeron densiflora enjoy the resources in the desert. The two plants gradually develop the concept of territory and will keep their distance from each other. If the root of Pennisetum enters the territory occupied by the root of Tribulus terrestris, it will stop growing, because Tribulus terrestris will release a growth inhibitor. Even if it invades the root of another kind of Tridentate Tribulus, it will be intercepted by the same chemical.

In contrast, the dense pig grass invaded the tribulus, which seemed powerless. However, when the roots of one plant touch the roots of another plant, the growth ability will also decrease. Nothing will happen if the roots of the same plant collide. This plant can identify itself as well as dissidents.

The phenomenon that plants harm people by casting spells is called "poisoning others", and plants will release substances that poison nearby plants. As early as the first century AD, the Greek scientist Pliny observed what plants grew under the black walnut, and its shadow was "too heavy and poisonous". Weeds such as Chenopodium album, thistle, sedge and goose intestines will not only compete for resources, but also hinder the healthy growth of nearby plants. Various kinds of mustard and sunflowers also have toxic effects, as do golden stem flowers and aster. Clusters of trees or grasses of the same species in nature reveal the message of compulsory demarcation: don't cross the border ... get out!

Some plants will take the initiative to plunder each other. Seeds of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. Only when there are cereals such as sorghum, corn and barley or crops such as tobacco and cowpea nearby will they germinate. When these plants began to grow, the witchweed quickly jumped out of the ground at the same time, and the malicious fingers reached out to the victims. At the same time, a special rhizoid organ has been developed to enable parasites to absorb water and nutrients from the roots of host plants. Finally, it will stick out of the ground and bloom beautiful red flowers.

At this point, I'm afraid the farmer will lose his sorghum field. In some parts of Asia and Africa, one leg of gold can damage up to 40% of arable land. One leg of gold is as deadly there as war.

Animal vigilance mimicry is more often mentioned. The purpose of animals doing this has nothing to do with pollination, but to avoid predators. So the harmless king snake looks like a poisonous coral snake. An ugly but poisonous caterpillar looks like an ugly and poisonous caterpillar. In these two examples, similarity is only beneficial to imitators, and others can't share the benefits.

Another kind of imitation called "Miao Lei Mimicry" is completely different. As far as Miao Lei's imitation is concerned, similarity is beneficial to both the imitator and the imitator. Several families of plants contain various inflorescences, especially small white flowers. The flowers of these umbels are similar in shape, attracting many kinds of insects. This may indicate that plants, by imitating Miao Lei, have gathered all the yellow-hearted daisies, yellow-crowned dandelions, Zi Yuan and many other relatives to exchange needed commodities, thus attracting more pollinators and benefiting everyone.

Dream of blue roses

A plant geneticist who works in a flower company dreams of creating a blue rose.

In fact, we have made blue roses, and any department store may sell double blue roses. But the double-layer rose, like other carefully cultivated varieties, is caused by mistakes. A gene sends the wrong message to the place where the stamen should grow, but as a result, the place where the stamen grows receives the pigment and becomes a petal. On the edge of the petals, you can also find the lid that used to be anther, which should be used to hold pollen.

Obviously, this mutation will make the flower unable to produce offspring, and it should die under normal circumstances. But gardeners have been encouraging this variation for hundreds of years. They crossed different roses to create a spectacular new color with extra petals.

Stamens can easily become petals, which is the evolutionary concept behind normal roses: petals may develop from stamens next to sepals. This mutation is beneficial, and having a few brightly colored petals seems to attract pollinators more. Petals of other flowers are more obviously evolved from sepals themselves.

We are willing to exchange the reproductive ability of roses for appreciation value. But we have lost the fragrance, and most roses don't smell sweet anymore. Facts have proved that it is very difficult to restore flower fragrance through cross breeding. Obviously, in the world of flowers, pollinators, pheromones and scents, the process of smelling is much more complicated than looking good.

The color of most Petunias or Impatiens can't be seen in gardens or forests. According to a breeder, some colors are specially cultivated to match the bricks or non-white borders of sidewalks. They are man-made products. We artificially pollinate the plant we want to change with pollen from another plant that may be a close relative, hoping that the hybrid can have the characteristics we want and become a more popular weeping willow or yellow impatiens in the market. Americans alone spend billions of dollars on flowering plants and shrubs every year, most of which are spent on hybridization, and about 1000 new hybrid varieties are introduced to the flower market every year.

Treat diseases with flowers

Flowers have been directly used to treat diseases for quite a long time. A quarter of our prescription drugs contain ingredients of flowering plants or their components. On the other hand, only 1% of plants in the world have been studied by humans.

In folk medicine, Madagascar Catharanthus roseus is a prescription for treating diabetes. When experts set out to study this flower, they found that the extract of this plant can reduce the number of white blood cells and inhibit the activity of bone marrow. Two chemicals were isolated from the experiment, which can be used to fight childhood leukemia. With these drugs, the survival rate of patients has increased from 10% to 95%.

For centuries, African medical practitioners have highly praised the ability of a plant complaining about the cola tree to treat infections. Algerian researchers discovered in the 1990s that the compounds in the bitter cola tree can resist Ebola virus. The typical feature of this virus infection is massive bleeding, which can cause death. We don't have prevention and treatment yet, and now the bitter cola tree may be the savior.

In every habitat with plants, I will find a basket of plants with curative effects. I can take angelica, cornflower, angelica, evening primrose, licorice, motherwort, mint, peony, mint, raspberry, geranium or mugwort leaf during dysmenorrhea. When you have tonsillitis, you can try some thistle, cold leaves, mallow, Potentilla, Rana chensinensis, Lithospermum ash or sage. When you get sunburned, it's your turn to use willow and thistle poppy. The juice of thistle poppy is also used to treat corneal opacity, and it can also treat prostatitis.

In the first half of the 20th century, Bach, as a doctor, found himself with superhuman sensitivity to plants. When he is near some plants, he will feel calm and relaxed, and some plants will make him sick. Bach began to believe that the "liquid energy" of flowers can enter the spring water, be heated by sunlight, and be mixed with brandy, which can cure the most fundamental human disease: emotional disease. He listed 38 ways to treat flowers, most of which can be found within a few kilometers of his home. "Bahai flower therapy" is very popular, and its basic belief is that our biochemical and cellular parts can be adjusted to a better state through other more subtle energy. This energy is absorbed in the meridians, which is called "Qi" in China and "Plana" in India. Flowers can affect this energy flow, produce fluctuations, and open channels and collaterals. They can act as catalysts.

The word phytoremediation comes from phyto (meaning plant), and phytoremediation refers to the act of repair and treatment. Plant regeneration is a new scientific field and a new market opportunity. Some plants can absorb toxic metals and store them safely in the cells of stems and leaves to resist insects or prevent infection. These plants are now used to clean up the polluted land.

As for other flowering plants, some people are considering other places that can be used. Poplar has been used to remove chlorine-containing solvents from groundwater, and alfalfa can be used to remove oil. In India, aquatic plants are used to treat cadmium produced by leather processing plants. Some plants eliminate the danger of explosive compounds in soil, such as TNT. Datura stramonium can take away heavy metals such as lead, and cabbage can reduce the content of radioactive particles.

Sunflowers can also absorb and store radioactive materials. A company in New Jersey uses sunflowers as a factory to produce uranium to eliminate pollution, and the sunflower roots in hydroponic tanks become a biological filtration system for wastewater. In Chernobil's experiment, it was found that 95% of radioactive strontium was absorbed by sunflower in a pool near the reactor where radiation leaked. 1996, the defense departments of the United States and Ukraine symbolically planted sunflower seeds in a place that used to be an underground missile silo.