by Ben Prater

Spring is certainly one of the most colorful seasons.  Have you ever looked outside to see how many different colors of flowers you can find?  If not, this is the best time of year to go look for wildflowers. 

Wildflowers come in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and even smells.  Flowers are very pretty and make people happy.  But flowers aren't out there just for you and me.  Plants use flowers to attract animals to their pollen. 

Pollen allows for plants to reproduce and to produce seeds which grow into other plants.  Species of plants exchange pollen amongst other members of their species to insure that the seeds they produce are strong and will be able to survive.  Pollen carries a plant's genes. 

When we talk about genes we aren't talking about the kind you wear.  We are talking about the genes that carry DNA, which is the information that tells our bodies how to grow and build themselves. Our genes control things like the color of our eyes.  Our genes make us who we are.  Plants put genes in pollen in order to pass them to their children. Attractive flowers and helpful pollinators are important helping genes to pass on.  

A pollinator is an animal, usually an insect, that helps spread pollen from one flower to the next.  Plants that have flowers depend on pollinators to help them make seeds.  Pollinators like bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and moths are attracted to flowers by their color, shape, and smell. Butterflies and hummingbirds suck nectar, while bees turn the pollen they gather into honey. Nectar and pollen are like gifts for the pollinators, rewarding them for helping to spread their pollen.

But a plant's friendship with animals doesn't end with pollination.  Some plants depend on animals to help spread their seeds around.  A plant is most likely to survive if it can spread to new places.  Since plants can't move around easily, they get animals to help them out. As with nectar and sweet smells, plants have a way of encouraging animals to help disperse their seeds. 

Have you ever seen the inside of an apple?  What did you find in there.....seeds?  Well the fruit of the apple--the yummy part we like to eat--is how the apple tree encourages animals to help spread its seeds.  Fruits are a way for plants to reward animals for their trouble.  Fruits also help protect and nourish the young seeds.  Some seeds have to pass through the digestive systems of animals before they will sprout.  It sounds gross but when the seeds get passed through an animal they get "deposited" with their own little bit of fertilizer.

So the next time you see a pretty flower in the woods or bite into an apple just remember all the amazing things plants do to survive.  Learning about the relationships between plants and animals is fun and can teach you all kinds of new things about nature.