All over the world people appreciate the beauty of flowers. There may be a preference for certain flowers or colors, influenced by culture or personal taste, but in general it is not presumptuous to state that a love for flowers seems to be generic for people. Just consider yourself: apart from those having frugal reasons not to purchase or those having an allergy for plants or flowers, do you know any person in your surroundings who doesn’t love the sight of a beautiful flower? Cultivated in a greenhouse, grown in the wild jungle of a rainforest or on a lovely flower meadow alike?
Pollination of flowers
Flowers are part of an ingenious system in nature. Bees, butterflies and insects depend on the natural sucrose in the nectar provided by the flowers. Flowers are so beautiful and often have a sweet heady scent to attract these little creatures, as they are essential for the flowers’ reproduction. By flying from flower to flower, the bee, butterfly or insect will take the nectar for food. When a bee is sipping out the nectar, the pollen of a flower will stick to its rather hairy legs and belly. In the pollen is the male portion of the flower’s genetic material. So when flying to another flower of the same species, the bee will spread the pollen all along, thus unknowingly taking care of the fertilization.
Flowers may have both female and male parts or either one of them. In the first case they can also be either self-pollinated or cross-pollinated (needing other plants of the same species). Cross-pollination is more common, also contributing to a richer variety of genetics and thus also stronger plants.
About 75 till 95% of the flowers and flowering plants on earth need help with the process of pollination. As said not only from bees, but also other insects like butterflies, beetles and moths, and also: hummingbirds, little birds, bats and others. Even small mamals like possums, squirrels, lemurs and marsupials help to take care of the pollination of flowers.
Not all flowers function this way. As always in nature some extraordinary exceptions do exist. Certain waterplants like ribbon weed are subject to water pollination: after releasing pollen, the current or breeze will bring them in contact with a recipient other plant or flower. There is also wind-pollination, good for up to 12% of the flowers and plants. Mostly they will have no abundance of colour or scent, but featherlight pollen to be taken by the wind to another recipient.
Flowers in export and industry
However useful the beauty of flowers may be in order to attract bees and their other little friends, their beauty and intoxicating smell is also irresistible for humans. Not for practical reasons, but simply because we enjoy their form, colours and symmetry so much! Not to speak about the aromatic scents of flowers: smelling so good that the whole perfume and cosmetic industry could not do without them.
When thinking of the most popular flower overall, it is no surprise the rose will pop up in our minds. Being the symbol of love, all over the earth people buy roses for their loved ones on special occasions. Worldwide about 250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day! Exported roses are grown in the Netherlands, Canada, several countries in the European Union, Uganda and Denmark, but countries like Ecuador, Colombia, Kenya and Ethiopia are quickly rising thanks to their good climate. Most of the exported roses will be bought by the European Union and the United States of America. It is estimated that about 2.8 billion roses are sold in a year in the USA alone!
Like said, roses are also very popular in the perfume industry. And don’t forget the jasmine: a sweet elaborate scent that can hardly be replaced by synthetic fragrances, in fact one of the most fragrant flowers. Some other very popular flowers for the perfumes are orange blossom and lavender. Of old France is the perfume country and it still is. Most flowers needed to create and produce perfumes are still grown in the south of France, around the city of Grasse. However, the USA is getting close: also a leading country in producing perfumes. Wherever they’re growing, flowers never cease to amaze us with their lovely scents.
Surpassing flowers…
Thinking this all over, it is very special how flowers grow, how beautiful they are both in looks and fragrance… Doesn’t it seem as if the beauty of flowers is almost a bit overdone considering the use of their own reproduction?
Maybe flowers were created for more than just attracting bees, butterflies and insects… Maybe they are there for us to enjoy and admire their beauty and lovely aroma? Meanwhile, making us think about their use and purpose…
It is a fact that the beauty of a flower is not there for a long time. Incredibly beautiful for a few weeks at most, their loveliness will quickly fade and suddenly they’re ready for the bin. How sad!
What about our own lifespan? The older we get the more fast life seems to fly. Before you know it, you’ll be on our deathbed and then what will happen to you? In what way would you be more than a dead flower? Do we humans indeed have a soul unlike the flowers and where will it go after death?
When we die, we cannot take anything with us in the grave. And really, only a few people are remembered in history as time passes. So what is the use and purpose of your own life? Aren’t you more valuable than flowers? Yes, you are! So how to surpass the destiny of a flower?
