TREES, LEAVES, FLOWER

Sori ❯ Spores are produced in

brown structures called sori on the
underside of the fronds. These sori
can be arranged in speckles or
lines, depending on the type of fern.

What is a fern?

Rachis ❯ The top part of the

stalk is known as the rachis.
It is the backbone of the frond.

Stipe ❯ The stiff stem at the Fossilized fern

bottom of the plant is known as Ferns first appeared almost 360 million years ago, among
the stipe. It is often covered with mossy swamps. Some large, treelike ferns had fronds as long
as 93⁄4 ft (3 m). The fossil below shows an extinct fern that
scales or hairs, for protection. looks very similar to modern ferns, such as the male fern.

Rhizome ❯ The main stem of most ferns The comblike
arrangement of leaflets
is known as the rhizome. It sits either on earns this fern its name
the soil’s surface or just below, although Pecopteris—the Greek
in some tree ferns the stems can develop word for comb.

into a tall, woody trunk. The fronds of
the fern emerge from the rhizome,
which is often too short to be seen.

Pecopteris fern fossil 51

Fern Male fern These simple fronds
fronds are said to look

This feather-shaped like deer tongues.
fern is native to much
of Europe, Asia, and

North America.

Furled fronds are known as
fiddleheads because they look
like the scrolls of violins.

Harfte’srntongue

Clumps of fronds
grow from a short
stem at the base.

Soft shield fern

Brown, spore-producing
specks on the underside
are called sori.
elike habit
Softtree fern
hJaolplaynfeesren
Tre

Ferns are among the most primitive land plants. As most
live on shady forest floors, they make large leaves, called
fronds, to help them gather as much sunlight as possible.
Many ferns share a distinctive leaf shape, with leaflets
that divide, and then divide again. Ferns do not produce
flowers. Instead, they grow tiny spores on the underside
of their leaves, which are blown by the wind and eventually
52 grow into new plants.

mCaoimdemnohair n Several fan-shaped The leaves of this
fern leaflets form each frond. fern are silvery in
spring and green
Ant fern in summer.

art leaf fern
He
Ostrich fernThese glossy leavesFossil pJaaipnatnedesfeern
can be heart- or
arrow-shaped. records show Leaf segments
unfurl as the main
that ferns
stalk unrolls.
date back

360 million
years.

The tall clumping BrackenSpore-producing
leaves can unfurl to Carrot fern cups line the edges
67 in (170 cm) long.
of each frond.
The feathery
fronds of this
plant resemble
carrot leaves.

Tufts of bracken
thrive in open forests
and pastures.

Bracken on forest floor

There are about 10,500 known species, the spore-producing brown regions
species of ferns some of which have on the underside of fronds are arranged in
simple undivided fronds, such as distinct patterns or shapes, such as the lines
those of the hart’s tongue fern and of speckles on the Japanese holly fern.
the heart leaf fern. Most are green, The tiny spores are usually carried away by
but a few have unusual colors, like the wind, although ants living in the hollow
the purple-veined, silvery leaves of the stems of the ant fern may also help this
Japanese painted fern. In many plant spread its spores.

DINOSAUR DIET Until about 140 million years ago, there were no flowering
plants anywhere on Earth. Some gigantic plant-eating
dinosaurs of the Jurassic period browsed in the treetops for the tough, fibrous foliage of pine trees
that existed at the time. Others reached down to pluck the fronds of low-growing and nutritious
ferns and horsetails.

During this time, the climate was warm and moist almost the trees to feed. They could even rear up on their hind legs
everywhere, with no polar ice. This encouraged the growth for extra height. Similar to modern elephants, they also would
of dense forests of conifers, ginkgos, club mosses, cycads, have broken down a lot of trees, creating open areas where
and tree ferns that covered much of the land. Dinosaurs such smaller plants such as ferns could flourish. Diplodocus fed on
as these two Diplodocus, which lived in what is now North these, too, combing the stems through their peglike teeth to strip
America, had long, flexible necks for stretching high into away the green foliage and gulping it down without chewing.

Nonflowering plants What is Closed cone scales ❯ The female
a conifer
cone? cones contain ovules (clusters
of female cells) that will develop
A conifer cone contains the male into seeds if they are fertilized
or female cells of conifer trees. In by pollen. Blown on the wind,
nonflowering plants such as pine the pollen grains are small
trees, cones are the equivalent of enough to slip between the
a flower. The seeds of conifers are scales and enter each ovule.
not contained in fruits but develop
between the scales of the pollinated
female cones. The scales protect the
seeds until they are fully developed,
then open up to release their seeds.

Male and female cones

The tough scales enclose
ovules, which form on
thin scales inside.

Pollen sac Ovule

These soft scales carry
pollen sacs that contain
the pollen grains.

Male cone Female cone

Most conifer trees have separate male and female cones. The long,
soft male cones produce pollen, while the woody female cones
contain ovules that will become seeds when fertilized. The pollen
grains are tiny, like dust, so they are easily blown on the wind.

56 Closed Austrian pine cone

Other cone-bearing trees

Cycads Sometimes living for 1,000 years, Welwitschia Found only in the Namib Ginkgo These trees are either male or female. What is a conifer cone?
these slow-growing, palmlike plants Desert in Africa, these plants are either male The males have pollen-bearing cones, but the
females produce seeds that swell up to look
develop structures called strobili, which or female. Although not true conifers, the
are similar to conifer cones. females have seed-bearing cones. like the fruits of flowering trees.

Open cone scales ❯ When the

seeds inside a cone are ready, dry
weather triggers the cones to open

up or even fall off the tree, so the
wind can blow the seeds away.

Tough, woody scales grow Cross section of
all around the cone. They a female cone

open slightly to allow
fertilization and then
close again to protect
the developing seeds.

Open Austrian pine cone Seed ❯ Conifer seeds Winged 57
seed
can take up to two
years to mature. They
are attached to thin
scales that act like
wings, allowing the
seeds to be carried
away in the wind
when the time is right.

Pines and needles

Needles can stay Cedar needles contain
green for more oils used in perfumes
than 45 years. and colognes.

Tufts of needles

The smallest of all pines,risptilneeconeSiberian Atlas cedar
this tree usually grows only up dwarf pine

to 10 ft (3 m) in height. This tree gets
its name from the
B This Asian
use of its foliage
cedar has distinctive during Christmas
drooping branches.
in Mexico.
Bristlecone
pines can live

for more than

5,000 years.

Deodar cedar Sacred fir

The pine family contains more than 200 The needles of pines, including those of the
types of conifer trees, including pines, firs, bristlecone pine and sugar pine, grow in
spruces, larches, and cedars. Although they clusters of two to five—each cluster from a
may look similar, these cone-bearing trees single bud. Cedar needles, such as those of the
have distinct patterns of needlelike leaves Lebanon cedar, also grow in clusters, but these
58 that can be used to tell them apart. may contain 15–45 needles and are typically

Young silver fir trees are Needles grow
often used as Christmas in bunches of
trees in Europe. five and can be
4 in (11 cm) long.
Sharply pointed
needles

This slow-growing
but resilient tree
has a life span of
150–600 years.

Blue spruce Short needles turn
golden yellow and
This wide-spreading tree orange in fall.
can reach up to 130 ft (40 m)
in height. It is the national Tamarack
emblem of Lebanon and larch
appears on its flag.
European
silver fir

Whorls of
needles

This tall tree Sugar pine
can grow rapidly,
Lebanon cedar reaching more
shorter than pine needles. Firs, such as the than 310 ft (95 m)
European silver fir, have flat needles that in height.
grow individually from the branch. Spruces,
including the blue spruce and the sitka Sitka spruce
spruce, have sharp four-sided needles. Larch
needles are particularly unusual because, unlike most conifers, they are not
evergreen but deciduous. In fall, the light
blue-green needles of the tamarack
larch change color before falling off,
turning the wooded mountains
glorious golden colors.

Conifer cones

Monkey puzzle tree (male) Male pollen cones grow
up to 6 in (15 cm) in length.
Lodgepole
Tightly closed woody pine
cones face down
on branches.

(female) These giant cones
can weigh up to
11 lb (5 kg).

Female cones produce
seeds about 18 months
after pollination.

Wollemi pine Young red cones Coulter pine
turn brown before
European larch releasing seeds. Red female cones sometimes
grow 20 in (50 cm) long.
Male cones can
take up to a year to Zululand cycad

ripen, turn brown, Round, green
and release pollen. cones turn purple
when ripe.

Each of these Thick, leathery
small yellow leaves change color
cones produces from bronze to green
a single seed. as they mature.

Outeniqua yellowwood Kauri (male) Common juniper

Conifer trees bear cones instead of Conifers have a few tricks for
flowers. All conifers have separate male dispersing their seeds. Some, such
and female cones, which sometimes as the Outeniqua yellowwood
grow on different trees. Male cones and common juniper, make fleshy,
make pollen, while female cones, when berrylike cones. Birds eat the cones
pollinated, produce seeds. Cones come and spread the seeds in their
in many shapes, sizes, and colors, but droppings. Other conifers need
60 all are pollinated by wind. specific conditions for seed dispersal.

CONE SIZE 26 in (66 cm) Green cones Conifer cones
produce bright Pineapple zamia
The sugar pine grows the orange seeds.
world’s longest conifer Norway spruce (female)
Sugar pine (wet) cones—more than four
times longer than a
human hand.

The pink female
cones of this spruce are
6 in (15 cm) tall and the

largest of the spruces.

Sugar pine (dry) These blue
female cones
Scales open in dry stand upright on
conditions to release top of branches.

winged seeds up to Korean
11⁄2 in (4 cm) long. fir

Cones Colorful
pollen cones
may have are only 4⁄5 in

“armored (2 cm) long.
up” to prevent

dinosaurs from

eating them.

A(tlmaaslec)edar Pitch pine (male)

This soft-scaled
cone grows up to
3 in (8 cm) long.

The female cones of the kauri break
apart and release seeds when mature,
while lodgepole pine cones do not
open until they feel the strong heat of a
fire. The female cones of the sugar pine
open only in dry weather, so their light
seeds are blown far and wide without
moisture in the air weighing them down.



FLOWERING
PLANTS

Flowering plants What is Stigma ❯ This is the female
a flower?
part of the flower and has
Many plants rely on animals, such as bees either a sticky tip or fine
and hummingbirds, to help them reproduce. hairs to trap pollen.
To attract these animals, many plants have
flowers that are brightly colored, have a sweet Pollen ❯ The fine yellow grains
scent, and produce a sugary nectar for them
to eat. When the animal visits the flower to find of pollen, found on a tubular
the nectar, it becomes covered in pollen. The structure called an anther, contain
animal, known as a pollinator, then transports the plant’s male sex cells.
the pollen to another flower.

Fertilization Pollen Stamen ❯ Each stamen has a long

Stigma filament with an anther on the top
where the pollen is produced.

Style A pollen tube grows Petals ❯ Colorful, often
down through the style.
The ovary contains scented, petals attract
the female reproductive The ovule is fertilized pollinating animals to the
by the pollen to become flower. Petals come in all
organs of the flower. a new plant. shapes and sizes and often
look brighter to insect eyes
than to human eyes.

Pollination
A tiger lily has colorful petals and sugary
nectar for animals such as this bee to eat. As it
When pollen lands on a flower’s stigma, it grows a tiny tube that feeds, the bee brushes against the pollen, which
travels through the style, taking the male pollen cells to the ovary. sticks to its body. Pollen contains male cells.
The male cells join with female cells, in the ovules, which become When the bee visits another tiger lily, the pollen

the seeds. This process is called fertilization. will brush onto the new flower’s stigma, and grow

64 towards the female cells. This is called pollination.

Pollen sticks to the Some bees collect balls of What is a flower?
hairs of visiting bees. pollen on their hind legs
and transport it back to
Anther the hive for food.

Tiger lily The style is the stalk that
supports the stigma.
Ovary ❯ This part of the flower
Nectar ❯ Many flowers produce a
contains female sex cells, which
are fertilized by the pollen. After sweet liquid called nectar at the
fertilization, the ovary develops base of the petals to attract
into a fruit, with the seeds inside. pollinators such as bees.

Ovule

A stalk supports
the flower.

65

Flower forms
Frangipani
Flowering plants derpuff
Red pow
Rotate Bird-of-paradise
Spherical Red stamens make the flower Orange and
look like a fluffy pompom. The sweet-smelling purple flowers
glove frangipani is used to make attract sunbirds,
The flower flower necklaces in Hawaii. which stand on
buds at the the thick green
Fox top open last. perch to access
the sweet nectar.

Spots Irregular

inside the A green,
beaklike bract
foxglove protects the
flowers guide flowers.

bees to the

nectar.

Pale yellow flowers Primr Wpalaxnt
bloom all over Europe
during spring.

ose

Bell-shaped Flat-topped tube Thick, waxy petals can Star-shaped
withstand tropical storms.

Plants have flowers that come Some plants, such as primrose, frangipani,
in a variety of sizes and colors. and poppy, have simple, open flower shapes
Botanists (plant scientists) study a that are perfect for a quick visit from an insect.
flower’s shape to better understand Others make dense clusters of flowers called
how it may be pollinated, by bees, inflorescences to provide more of a meal for
66 bats, birds, or a breeze! pollinators. For example, the red powderpuff

The delicate flower has K
a lovely, sweet fragrance.

Flower forms
ing protea

Pea-shaped ea
Sweet p
A spike of tiny Arum lily
yellow flowers Small flowers fill the
is surrounded by a center of these massive
white, petal-like bract. blooms, which can grow
up to 12 in (30 cm) across.

Cream-colored
flower spikes are up
to 4 in (11 cm) across.

Small Guelder ro Composite
flowers
on spike Red
hot poker
se
Pink quill Four large
petals form
a cup shape.

Poppy

Purple flowers Cup-shaped
grow from the edges
of the pink bracts. A hairy bud Tube-shaped
protects the
The stem of the The petals change
guelder rose is smooth, growing flower. color from orange to
yellow as they open.
not thorny like a true Saucer-shaped
rose plant.
as they perch on the flower. Other plants
Funnel-shaped make a special, often colorful, petal-like leaf
called a bract, to attract many pollinators.
makes a ball of tiny stamens to attract bees Hummingbirds are drawn to the showy bracts
and butterflies, while the king protea and of the pink quill, while the white bract of the
red hot poker coat the faces of visiting birds arum lily attracts many insects.
with a dusting of pollen when they feed. The
bird-of-paradise also provides a feast for
visiting birds, covering their feet with pollen

Flowering plants Pollinators This day-flying moth uses its strawlikethbird
mouthpart—which is about as long as its
The long beak body—to drink nectar from flowers of
reaches into the flower, many shapes and sizes.
and the bird’s head is
dusted with pollen. Huhmamwikn-gmo

hVuiomlmetinsagbr The tiny wings of the hummingbird can
ewbinirgd flap many times in a second, allowing the
bird to hover in one place as it feeds.

y possum
Pygm

The waxy bract of the Bell-shaped, The possum’s
banana flower bud curves yellow flowers excellent climbing
back to give birds easy remain closed
access to the flower inside. unless forced open skills help it run
by a pollinator. up and down
blebee
Bum flowering trees.
Lady

bug

As the bumblebee Beetle-pollinated
opens up the flower flowers make a lot
and scrambles inside to of pollen that stick to
get to the nectar, its fuzzy these clumsy insects.
hairs collect pollen.
This eucalyptus tree
flowers in winter, relying on
mammals for pollination at a
time when insects are scarce.

Although insects are the most common Bees and butterflies visit fragrant, brightly
pollinators, larger animals such as birds colored flowers, which grow in clusters or
and bats also play a vital role in pollination. have large petals for the insects to land on.
In return, plants provide sweet nectar. Many moths prefer white or very pale flowers
Different flower shapes, colors, and that open at night, following their sweet floral
68 smells attract specific pollinators. scents to find them in the dark. Beetles, such

Butterflies Strong, grasping Lesser long-nosed bat
claws help the parrot
The flower heads of hang onto the branch
buddleia are so popular while drinking nectar.
with butterflies that
it is known as the
butterfly bush.

Flexible stigmas
collect pollen from
the lorikeet’s head.

orikeet The bat’s flexible
tongue helps it reach
deep inside a flower.

Rainbow l

These tubular saguaro cactus
flowers cover the bat’s nose in pollen

as it reaches inside to drink nectar.

NECTAR GUIDES

Unlike humans, bees can see ultraviolet (UV) light. Many
flowers, such as this marsh marigold, may appear plain
to us, but under UV light, we can see how the petals have
dark patterns that guide insects to their nectar and pollen.

More

than 500
species

of plants are

pollinated
by bats.

Under normal light Under UV light

as ladybugs, also pollinate pale-colored flowers but these tend not to be scented, since birds do 69
but choose fruity-smelling blooms. These flowers not have a sense of smell. The petals of bird-
mimic the scent of ripe fruit to trick beetles into pollinated flowers are usually bent back to allow
visiting them for food. Of the larger pollinators, the animals easy access. Bats pollinate some
birds are attracted to bright, day-flowering night-flowering plants and are attracted to large,
blossoms. Hummingbirds favor reddish flowers, pale flowers with a musty smell.

Looks Indian pipe
familiar Parrot flower
The showy flowers
The bright pink look like flying
outer petals resemble parrots with little
green “beaks.”
love hearts.
These ghostly
Asian bleeding heart white parasitic
plants grow into
Skull-shaped seed pods the roots of trees
appear after flowering. to steal food.

Snapdragon Two red petals fan out
like a pair of ears from the
Dar
purple, bat-faced center.

th Vader plant

The helmet-shaped Naked man The purple flowers look
flowers smell like rotting orchid like little people, complete
flesh to attract flies. with arms and legs.
Bat-faced cuphea

These fun flowers look like animals Many of the unique and colorful flowers shown
and other objects, from birds to love here belong to the orchid family, which consists
hearts. While most of these similarities of thousands of different plants. This includes the
are only a coincidence, in some cases, naked man orchid, the dancing lady orchid,
the resemblance has evolved to attract and the white egret flower. The bee orchid
70 potential pollinators. flower, which looks like a female bee, attracts

A The delicate white
bee orchid’s petals resemble the
outstretched wings of
fragrance can a heronlike white bird
trick a male bee called an egret.

into thinking it Looks familiar
is meeting a

female.

These masses of pollen
stick to the bee’s head, to be
transferred to the next flower.

White egret
flower

The red leaflike bracts
attract hummingbirds
to pollinate the
flowers inside.

Bee orchid Hot lips

The pink sepals look The duck’s “head”
like wings, and the curls down over visiting

flower even has a fuzzy, insects to deposit
“hairy” body like a bee. pollen on them.

Laorrgcehidduck

The large, ruffled The labellum, or lip,
petal of this traps pollinating insects.

chocolate-scented Dancing lady orchid
flower looks like a

dancer’s gown.

male bees, attaching packages of pollen demand can place a strain on 71
to them in the process. The large duck rarer species. For this reason, the
orchid looks more like a female sawfly than government of Thailand has banned
a duck to male sawflies, luring these pollinators. the export of the rare parrot flower
While many of these eye-catching plants are plant and its seeds to protect its
popular with gardeners, too great a market dwindling numbers in the wild.

RIVER OF BLOSSOM A bird’s-eye view of Inokashira Park in Tokyo, Japan,
reveals the waters of the pond running through it are
pink with the petals of the spectacular cherry trees that line its banks. Families and friends take picnics
to the park and sit beneath the trees to eat, drink, listen to music, and enjoy the beauty of the
blossoms. Later, lanterns hung in the branches are lit, and festivities carry on into the night.

At the start of every year, the Japanese weather office because thousands of people celebrate flower-viewing
monitors the temperature and conditions to try to predict parties, a Japanese tradition, known as hanami, that dates
when the cherry trees, called sakura, will bloom. The back to the 8th century. The trees will carry their blossoms
trees blossom first in the warmer south of Japan, and for only a week or two, and people need to plan their
the “blossom front” spreads up the country, moving north festivities. In Japanese culture, the cherry tree’s short-lived
as spring advances. The blossom forecasts are important bloom is often associated with the fragility of human life.

A garden
of roses
Flowering plants Ban
A line of rose-covered Seeds inside This climbing ks’ rose
arches in a beautiful garden the rose hip are rose is native The crimson
in Baden-Baden, Germany. to China. rose becomes
eaten by birds more fragrant
attracted by the in the warmth
of the sun.
red fruit and
spread in their

droppings.

Rose garden This full blooming
variety was bred
from five-petaled
wild roses.

Sunblest rose Dog rose hips Munstead
wood
SPACE ROSE
Fruits called hips
develop once the flower
has been fertilized and
the petals fall off.

Cupped golden In 1998, researchers sent Chinese rose
yellow petals the miniature rose they called
are mildly “Overnight Scentsation” into
scented. space, aboard NASA’s Space
Shuttle Discovery. The purpose
Long, straight stems hold these was to study the effect of low
medium- to large-sized roses upright. gravity on the oils released
from the rose’s petals. After
10 days, they discovered
that the rose had produced
an entirely new scent,
unlike any rose scent
found on Earth.

Roses were the first plants to be grown Almost all wild roses have five overlapping
simply for their beauty and have graced petals and are known as “single” blooms.
gardens for around 5,000 years. The rose Over the centuries, gardeners have taken
flower has been used as a symbol across species of wild roses, particularly the
the world, representing ideas such as Chinese rose, and cultivated them to get
love and purity, as well as adopted flowers with three or more layers of petals,
as the emblem of kings and countries. known as “double” blooms, such as the
74

This multilayered This pale pink
rose variety cost rose is prized
for its smell.
$4 million to develop.

Making rose oil, Bulgaria Rose petals must be
steamed with water,
the same day they are Musk ros
picked, to extract the
perfumed oil.
sa Mundi Juliet rose
eThis striped pink
flower was cultivated Pale pink flowers
more than 400 years ago. bloom from dark
pink buds.

Ro Iceberg was
voted the “world’s
Some favorite rose”
in 1983.
rose
prickles

can be made into

f ishing
hooks.

Leaflike sepals
protect the
growing bud.

Dog rose

This deep red rose may
have as many as 26–40
petals and is very fragrant.

Iceberg rose Crimson glory

Banks’ rose and iceberg rose. Some modern wonderful fragrance used in perfumes and 75
varieties, including the Juliet rose and crimson many other beauty products, while rose water
glory, have more than 25 petals and are called is used to flavor sweets such as Turkish delight.
“full” blooms. Rose breeders have been able Some roses, such as the dog rose, bear glossy,
seed-bearing fruits called rose hips in fall. Rich
to create white, yellow, orange, pink, and in vitamin C, these can be used in teas,
red roses, but never a truly blue one. preserves, and medicines.
Rose petals contain oils with a

Flowering plants Crazy for With nearly 25,000 species, daisies make
daisies up one of the largest plant families. But
their pretty flower heads are not quite what
Conefl they seem. What looks like one flower
is in fact a cluster of lots—sometimes
thousands—of tiny flowers in the center,
with a ring of what looks like petals but
is in fact more flowers around the edge.

ower The striped ray Orange pom-poms Stifftia
florets surround a are made of individual
center of tiny disk florets. flowers and colorful hairs.

Treasure flower

Pink petals surround
a spiny conelike center
that is full of nectar.

Tubular flowers are
produced by this critically
endangered Hawaiian plant.

Yellow-tipped Bfllaonwkeert
red florets, which

look like flames,
give this plant the
name “firewheel.”

Maui island-aster Three separate
florets look like
The round flower a single flower.
head is made up
of small flowers,
ranging from purple
to metallic-blue.

Globe The spiky Whorl
76 thistle flower
globe
thistle is also
called the blue
hedgehog.

Daisies such as the treasure flower, the common Each floret produces one seed. The flower-packed
daisy, and chicory have large outer petal-like heads of daisies make them much more
ray florets, surrounding the disk florets in the attractive to insects and makes pollination a lot
center. Each disk floret is in fact five fused petals easier. Most have bright colors to attract insect
that form a tubelike flower, which you can see pollinators, such as bees, but the tropical Mutisia
clearly in the whorl flower. The sunflower has flower is pollinated by birds. The other tropical
a large head so you can make out the individual daisies, stifftia and the Maui island-aster,
disk florets as they bloom, from the outside in. are unusual because they grow on trees.
Crazy for daisies
The largest sunflower head Mutisia
ever grown was in 1983, at
321⁄4 in (82 cm) across.

Each petal-like
ray floret is a
lopsided flower.

The orange ray
florets attract

bird pollinators.

Sunflower Yellow disk florets
at the center produce
pollen and make seeds.

Edible blue
flowers, which are
bitter in taste, can
be eaten in salads.

Chicory The purple florets
fade to cream

toward the center of
the flower head.

Persian Common daisy 77
cornflower

Ingenious phyllum
orchids
Flowering plants Bulbo
Moth
orchid These decorative The long petals of this
petals can be red, orchid often smell rotten
white, yellow, or pink. to attract pollinator flies.

Oncidium
These unusual speckled
One colorful Red cr Large, long-lived flowers bloom for two toZygopetalum
petal is the flowers make this three months in a year.
focus of these orchid a popular
unusual flowers. houseplant. Large petal acts as
a landing platform
oss orchid for insects.
Cross-shaped lip
petals give this
orchid its name.

ReEnpeicaMtatlreqyuaes

Orchids are beautiful flowers with clever Orchids are found almost everywhere
tactics for attracting pollinators. Some in the world but are most common in
mimic male insects, so rival males will the tropics where, like the vanda orchid,
attack them and get covered in pollen. they live high in the rain forest trees. In
Others attract male insects by looking cooler climates orchids usually grow on
like females. Some flowers entice bees the ground. All orchids have three outer
and butterflies with a sweet smell, while sepals and three inner petals, including a
78 others stink of rotting meat to draw flies. distinctive lip petal that acts as a landing

These flowers Van da
blossom for only
Slipper orchid three days so have
a strong scent to
attract pollinator
bees quickly.

Stanhopea

Nun orchid

Tubular petals
lure insects inside.

Aerial roots
collect water from
moisture in the air.

These showy flowers White petals attract pollinators in
are pollinated only by spite of this flower’s lack of nectar.
one species of butterfly.

Insects enter Red disa Cattleya purpurata
this pouchlike
platform for pollinators. Oncidium and zygopetalum flowers
petal and are have particularly large lip petals, and in the nun orchid and
covered in pollen cattleya flowers, these take the shape of colorful tubes. Orchids
bundle their pollen into sticky packages, which attach to pollinators
as they struggle when they visit the flower. Some orchids can be pollinated only by
to get out. a single species of insect—for the red disa orchid, for example, it is
the mountain pride butterfly. This leaves the orchid very vulnerable.
There If the insect went extinct, the orchid would follow.

are 28,000
known

species of

orchids in the

world.

79

Blossoms
and bulbs

d
Pisnorkrewloo
Daffodil

Tiny bulbs called bulbils, Large bulbs give rise
which are 1⁄4 – 7⁄16 in to yellow, trumpet-
shaped blooms.
(7–11 mm ) in size, can
Amaryllis grow into new plants.

Large flowers bloom
before leaves grow
from the bulb.

This bulb starts
flowering about 6–8
weeks after planting.

Amaryllis Each
bulb
wild leek
Delicate, lilylike Nerine
flowers are produced stalk can produce

on leafless stalks. more than
500 flowers.

UNDERGROUND STORE This bulb grows only
in cool weather during
the fall.

A bulb is made up of a short stem that produces layers of
fleshy leaves known as scales, which store food and water.

Leaves use Nerine bulb
sunlight to
make food. An outer layer Some of our favorite flowers grow
protects the bulb. from underground food stores, called
bulbs. Packed with food and water, bulbs
Scales are New leaves grow lie dormant beneath the soil when the
a type of leaf from the stem. weather is either too hot or too cold,
that stores food. hidden from hungry animals. But as
soon as conditions are right, they
Short stem Roots hold the quickly sprout new shoots and leaves.
connects the bulb in the ground.
roots and shoots.

Cross section of a bulb

Clusters of purple Blossoms and bulbs
flowers grow on stalks Giant onion
up to 3 ft (1 m) tall.
Hyacinth
Balls of flowers can grow
7 in (20 cm) across.

Poisonous bulbs
can irritate skin
on contact.

Tulip

Waxy leaves are

arranged alternately
on the stem.

Dwarf iris
Leek
Roots continue to grow Bulbs multiply
and absorb nutrients and as they mature
moisture during the cool and grow into
new plants.
fall season.

Leek bulbs form long, Long roots can
straight white barrels. pull the bulbs

deeper into the soil.

Leek bulb Many South African plants, such as popular blooms, farmed for selling as 81
amaryllises and nerines, spend the cut flowers for the home. Although
hot summer as bulbs under the ground, some bulb plants, such as leeks and
flowering in the fall when it is cooler. onions, are edible, others produce
Others, such as daffodils, tulips, and toxic chemicals to discourage animals
hyacinths, flower in the spring after from digging up the bulbs and eating
the cold winter in other countries has them. Daffodil, hyacinth, and tulip bulbs
ended. These are some of the most are poisonous to many animals.

Flowering plants What’s When we think of flowers, we usually
that smell? think of the colorful petals and sweet
scents that attract pollinators such as
bees or butterflies. But some plants
smell truly terrible. Their stinking
flowers, leaves, and roots attract a
different set of pollinators, including
flies and beetles.

White blossoms Carrion The flowers, Pineapple lily
smell like rotting flowers which bloom in
fish to attract flies spring and summer,
as pollinators. can grow up smell like rotting
meat to draw
to 16 in in insects.

(41 cm) across.

Bradford
pear

Draarguomn

The star-shaped, Carrion imCpreorwianl The flower
hairy flower looks plant spike may
like a dead animal.
resemble
an attractive
pineapple but
can smell awful.

This strange-looking
flower traps insects
until they are all
covered in pollen.

No Durian This plant's
brightly colored
Smelly durian is blooms, leaves, and
banned on public stem smell like foxes.
transportation in
Jackal food
82 Singapore.

Some flowers, such as those of the Bradford deer, by stinking like a fox or a skunk. Not
pear and carrion plant, smell like rotting only do plants such as the dead horse
meat to attract flies. Jackal food plants arum and titan arum smell awful, but
spend most of their lives underground, they also heat up their flowers to help this
sending up a poo-scented flower to be smell spread farther. The vomitlike smells
pollinated by dung beetles. The crown of the durian fruit and female ginkgo nut
imperial plant, however, uses smell to scare are so strong that both are banned from
off would-be attackers, such as squirrels and many public places in some countries.
What’s that smell?
Gi Valerian

nkgo

Dead horse arFleshy, smelly nuts The roots of
of the female tree valerian smell
like sweaty socks.
contain edible seeds
that do not smell. This giant flower
spike can heat up
um
to 90 °F (32 °C).

Titan arum

The petal-like Also known as the corpse flower,
bract is flesh-colored, titan arum has a red flower sheath that

hairy, and smells looks and smells like rotting meat.
like rotting meat.

The delicate FLOWER TOWER 10 ft (3 m) tall
leaves of this
plant smell like roast The titan arum
beef when bruised makes the tallest
or damaged. flower spike in the
world, but it flowers
only once every two
to seven years in the
Sumatran rain forest
in Indonesia.

Stinking Titan arum
iris

Flowering plants Living Ponds, rivers, and oceans are full of plants. th
in water These often grow quickly because they
Fl rouwsehring have access to a lot of water and sunlight.
Flower spike Some aquatic plants float on the surface,
and leaves reach up their flat leaves soaking up the sun’s rays,
to 5 ft (1.5 m) tall. while others are fully submerged. Many
send up leaves and flowers from an
Waxy lily pads rest anchored underwater root.
on the water’s surface.
Water hyacin
Water lily
Air-filled leaf stalks
help the plant float.

Fanwort Fan-shaped
leaves give this
plant its name. Stems, not
roots, anchor this
Hornwort plant under water.

LIVING UNDER WATER

All plants need oxygen to survive. Some aquatic plants take
in oxygen from the water, while others, such as the water lily,
have tiny tubes in their stalks to carry air from above the
water’s surface to their roots.

Air spaces allow Water lily
oxygen to pass from

the leaves down
to the roots.

Cross section of leaf stalk

Just like plants on land, water-based plants to let the water drift freely through without tearing Living in water
need sunlight to make food and have found their them. Water hyacinths and water lettuces trap
own unique ways to survive. Plants such as the air in their leaves to help them float. While some
flowering rush and water lily are rooted at water plants provide a habitat and food for fish and
the bottom of ponds and rivers but push out long other aquatic animals, others such as waterweed
leaves to capture sunlight and tall flower stalks and parrot’s feather grow so quickly that they
to be pollinated by insects. The feathery leaves often take over lakes and streams, harming other
of the fanwort and hornwort spread out plants and the animals that live there.

Umbrella grass WTufts of leaves protect r Bright green feathery
Parrot’s feathethe developing flowers.
leaves and stem can
stand up to 11 3⁄4 in

(30 cm) out of the water.

ater lettuce Pairs of flowers
form a V shape.

hawWtahtoerrn

Tall stems carry
leaves that resemble
umbrella spokes.

Tiny hairs The Clumps of eelgrass
trap air to help form meadows
the plant float. earliest under the ocean.
plants to grow
Leaves grow up
to 61⁄2 ft (2 m) long. on Earth evolved

Brazilian in water. ommon eelgrass
waterweed

American eelgrass
C
Dense leaves
can be up to

1 in (3 cm) long.

Along The soil along a riverbank is rich in
the river nutrients deposited by flooding, so
Flowering plants Swamp rose mallow plants here can grow large and often
very fast. They can thrive all summer
Each large flower long, as they never suffer drought.
grows to about 6 in However, when a river floods, the
(15 cm) across. fast-flowing water may carry away
anything not firmly rooted in the soil.
Cattail
Brilliant yellow
flowers attract bees

in early spring.

Giant rhubarb

Marsh marigold

Tiny, brown female
flowers grow in the

form of a dense spike.

These huge leaves
have a spiny underside
that stops animals
from eating them.

GIANT LEAVES

Native to riverbanks in Brazil,
the giant rhubarb has massive
leaves—the largest undivided leaves
of any flowering plant. Its flowers,
however, are tiny and grow on spiky
heads near the ground.

11 ft (3.3 m)

One of the biggest riverside plants, the giant loosestrife, water spearmint, and candelabra
rhubarb, grows 8 ft (2.5 m) tall and 13 ft (4 m) primrose lie dormant in winter but grow fast in
wide. Not much smaller, the white skunk spring or summer. Cattail, soft rush, and
cabbage grows huge cabbagelike leaves. Both snowberry have a different survival
plants die away in winter, shedding leaves strategy. They are present all year
that might otherwise become caught up in long, and their tough leaves or stems
floodwater and uproot them. Plants such can withstand swift floodwaters, so
as the marsh marigold, purple each year they grow even larger.

The brown, Stalks In North America, these white
conelike structures of horsetail berries are food for bighorn
at the end of this sheep and grizzly bears.
nonflowering plant’s were used by early
stems contain spores.
American pioneers to
Soft rush Csnoomwmboenrry
scour pots and
pans. Clusters of up
to six flowers
Rough horsetail Tall spikes of delicate are borne on tall,
mauve flowers blossom sturdy stems.
in late summer.
Candelabra primrose Large, white
A cluster of bright leaflike bracts
red flowers grows on These leaves have attract flies to the
a minty smell. smelly flower heads.
the side of the stem.

Purple loosestrife White skunk cabbage
Water

spearmint

FLOODED FOREST A shoal of fish swirl past the tangled roots of a
mangrove tree that stands partially submerged in
the warm Caribbean Sea off the Central American country of Belize. Most mangroves grow
along tropical and subtropical coastlines, where their roots are flooded with seawater twice a day.
Such a wet, salty environment would be fatal to most plants, but mangrove forests thrive in it.

Mangroves include everything from small shrubs to huge trees, tide, the pores in their roots close, preventing the trees from
all adapted for living in salt water. The plants use a range of getting waterlogged. Mangroves are an important tropical
survival tactics, from filtering out salt in seawater as they drink and subtropical habitat, acting as natural storm barriers and
it in through their roots to releasing salt through leaf pores. preventing coastal erosion. The network of roots is also a
Many mangrove trees stop their roots from rotting by absorbing source of food for fish and other small ocean creatures, and
oxygen through spongy standing roots at low tide. Then, at high helps shelter them from larger predators.

Flowering plants What is
a cactus?

Cacti come in all shapes and sizes, but nearly
all of them have large swollen stems that allow
them to store water. This is because many
cacti grow in areas with little or no rainfall
for long periods of time. Desert cacti have
clever adaptations to help them survive
extreme heat and drought, however a
few very different cacti live in rain forests.

Summer flower ❯ The monk’s

hood cactus produces pale yellow
flowers throughout the summer.
They are pollinated by insects
and produce spiky fruits.

Water is stored in the
barrel-shaped stem.
Some cacti, such as this
one, expand when filled with
water and contract when dry.

Mass of Roots ❯ The roots of this cactus
thin roots.
spread across a large area and

grow close to the surface. They

Inside a monk’s hood cactus quickly draw in as much water
as possible from rain or dew.

90

Spine ❯ These help shade Cacti shapes

the stem and stop animals Columnar
from eating the cactus. A Cacti, such as the
spine is, in fact, a type of saguaro, can grow
modified leaf with a small 40 ft (12 m) tall,
surface area to prevent and have distinctive
water from evaporating. armlike side branches.
Bats pollinate their
The ribs channel flowers, which grow
dew to the roots. at the top of the plant.

Monk’s hood Clustering
cactus The prickly pear
cactus has flattened
Flakes ❯ In a desert, the sun is very stems that grow in
clusters. The red,
bright. White flakes grow on the stem prickly fruit must
of the cactus, helping to reflect light. be peeled to remove
the small spines.

Globular
Many cacti, like the
barrel cactus, have
rounded stems. This
maximizes water
storage, while its
vertical ridges direct
every drop of water
to the roots.

Climbing
Some cacti live in
forests, where they
clamber up other
plants for sunlight.
The queen of the
night cactus has huge
flowers that bloom for
just one night.

Where do they grow?

Deserts
Desert cacti have to survive
extreme heat and light. Often
large and spiny, they grow all
over North and South America.

Forests
Some cacti grow in shaded
forests. Their stems do not
need to store water, as the roots
draw moisture from the air.

Grasslands
Smaller cacti often grow in
grasslands, where the grasses
shade them in summer. Most
are found in South America.

Cool cacti

Long, yellow spines Vertical stems
erupt in starry clusters can grow up to
from ridges on the body. 26 ft (8 m) tall.

Organ pipe cactus

Barrel cactus Branches can take Overlapping
up to 40 years to form, stems create
growing at less than a fan shape.
1 in (2.5 cm) a year.

Paddle-shaped
stems are flat,
unlike stems in
most cacti.

Saguaro Bilberry cactus

63 ft (19.2 m)
TALLEST CACTUS Prickly pear

With a recorded height of
63 ft (19.2 m) and a trunk
about 3 ft (1 m) thick, the
Mexican false saguaro is
the tallest-known living
cactus in the world.

Birds such as this
owl use the saguaro
cactus for nesting.

Many cacti live in the desert, where their Living in hot and dry environments means that
water-filled stems help them survive long cacti have to make the most of the rare, but often
periods of drought. Most plants use their heavy, rainfall. Ribs on the barrel cactus allow
leaves to make food from sunlight, but it to stretch its stem to quickly take in as much
cacti do this using their green, fleshy water as possible. In harsh desert conditions,
stems. To protect themselves from plants grow very slowly and live a long time.
hungry animals, cacti have specially Some, such as the saguaro and false saguaro
92 adapted leaves called spines. cacti, can live for up to 300 years. These tall

s cactus Fiercely False saguaro
sharp, long
spines protect
this cactus.

Flowers bloom around Christma White, hairlike
Christmastime in the spines reduce
Northern Hemisphere. Fragrant flowers evaporation.
grow on top of this
rounded cactus. Tephrocactus

Old man
cactus

Red spines give
this plant its name.

Bishop’s cap
cactus

Mexican fire barrel Neocnacbtruosom

Flowers open at
night for moth and

beetle pollinators.

Stout stems

can be up to
31⁄3 ft (1 m) thick.

cacti, along with the organ pipe cactus, are 93
pollinated by lesser long-nosed bats at night,
while most other species are visited by insects
or birds during the day. Prickly pear flowers curl
their anthers around visiting bees to coat them
in pollen. Not all cacti live in the desert—the
Christmas cactus, for example, grows on
trees in the tropical rain forests of Brazil.

Desert survivors

Flowering plants When dry, resurrection After rain, the leaves unfurl
E plants close down and curl in a matter of hours.

cheveria up to preserve moisture.

Dried plant

Resurrection plant

Spiny leaves with
sharp tips can
grow up to 5 ft
(1.5 m) in length.

Shiny, triangular Century
leaves are arranged plant
in a rosette.
The dense cushions
The high, thorny of leaves of this
branches can be eaten only poisonous plant
by giraffes, with their trap water inside.
muscular tongues.

Camel thorn Llareta

A desert is a very dry area, with less The echeveria plant and the Queen Victoria
than 10 in (25 cm) of rainfall a year. All agave retain water by trapping it inside their
plants need water to survive, but desert fleshy leaves. Their leaves also have a waxy
plants have adapted to their habitat by surface that reflects the sun’s rays and keeps the
using ingenious methods of storing water, plant cool. The resurrection plant can lose
reducing the amount they lose, or just more than 95 percent of its weight during dry
94 by being able to survive drying out. periods, shriveling into a dry ball. It can survive

Bitter fruits containWild des The fleshy stem Desert survivors
fatty seeds used to makes food for the
make oils and biofuels. plant by photosynthesis.

ert gourd Now

Baseball protected
plant
by law, baseball
These white plants nearly went
patterns mark where
growing leaves pushed extinct due to
against each other.
overcollecting.

The young leaves African moringa
of this tree are eaten
and sometimes used as
medicine in Ethiopia.

Pebblelike leaves
camouflage this plant

in rocky deserts.

Queen Victoria agave Living stone

like this for several years but quickly comes back to life when
rain soaks its leaves. Like cacti, the baseball plant, living stone,
and African moringa store water in their stems. Plants are fairly
uncommon in deserts and semideserts, so many predators eye
them hungrily. The camel thorn and century plant defend
themselves using sharp thorns or spines, while others,
including the llareta, protect themselves with poison.

DESERT BLOOM The vast Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the driest places
in the world, with very little rainfall. The bare, baked ground
appears bleak and lifeless. When it rains, however, millions of flowering plants, such as these purple
pussy-paws, spring up and transform the land into a carpet of color. These short-lived plants, or
“ephemerals,” grow from seeds that have long lain dormant in the earth.

Desert ephemerals are plants that live fast and die young. season by producing flowers and setting seed very
Once the right conditions have triggered their explosion quickly. With the return of drought, the ephemerals
of growth, they have a few weeks, or often just days, to disappear as fast as they came. They leave behind their
complete their life cycle. Ephemerals are usually small and scattered seeds, safely hidden in cracks in the parched
short. Growing tall takes time and energy, and desert plants ground, where they sit out the tough times until the
have none to spare. They must make the most of their short next rain. It may be a very long wait.

Meat-eating pical pitcher plant
Flowering plants
Tro See-through windows
plants Cobra plant on the hood confuse
trapped prey who
Waterwheel plant Underwater traps tire themselves out
trying to escape.
snap shut in 1⁄50 of a
The bright,
second when triggered slippery lip
attracts insects.
by prey.

Long teeth keep
insects inside as
the trap closes.

The leaves have pools
of water between them
where drowned insects
are digested.
Powdery strap airplant
s flytrap Venu INSIDE A PITCHER PLANT

Trap closes in 1. Brightly A lid prevents
less than a second colored lip, rain from flooding
when trigger hairs slippery with the pitcher.
are touched. sweet nectar,
attracts prey. 2. Waxy insides
ensure the insect
Some cannot climb out.
tropical
species have 3. Insect drowns
pitchers that in a pool of
hang from digestive juices.
tendrils.

Many animals eat plants, but have you There are different types of meat-eating, or
ever heard of a plant eating an animal? carnivorous, plants. Waterwheel plants and
Meat-eating plants often grow in bogs, Venus flytraps have snap traps, which quickly
trapping insects and other small animals close shut around their victims. Pitcher plants
to get the nitrogen and minerals they have a lip of nectar to attract their prey. The
98 need that are missing from the wet soil. insects then fall into the pitcher (jug) of digestive

Tubelike traps contain
downward-pointing hairs to
prevent their victims’ escape.

Trumpet Sensitive hairs, when
pitcher plant touched by prey, open the
trapdoor, which then swells
up and sucks the victim
into a pouch.

Sensitive hairs
covered in sticky

juices wrap
around the prey.

Bladderwort

Tube-shaped leaves
produce nectar to attract
insects, which are digested

by bacteria in the trap.

Sticky hairs, present
on only the summer
leaves, trap insects.

The undigested Sundew Sun pitcher
parts of insects plant
sink to the bottom
of the colorful trap.

Butterwort

juices, which break down their bodies. a long time to form pouchlike 99
The flypaper traps of the butterwort and traps to help them get the nutrients
sundew have sticky hairs that make sweet they need to survive. Its underwater
treats to attract insects, which they digest traps are triggered by sensitive hairs and
slowly. The bladderwort is an amazing act like vacuum cleaners to suck in small
plant with leaves that have evolved over prey as they swim by.

Poisonous plants White baneberry

Belladonna

Sweet but These toxic
poisonous, these leaves poison
black berries can
the milk of
be deadly. cows that
feed on them.

Lily of t All parts of this plant
White snakeroot are toxic, though the seeds
he valley contain the most poison.

This pretty Hemlock
plant is highly
poisonous.

A single seed Rosary pea
contains enough Throughout history, humans have known about
poison to kill an the poisonous properties of certain plants and
used them for deadly ends. Belladonna was used
adult human. to make poison-tipped arrows, while hemlock is
said to have been used to kill the great philosopher
Many plants produce poisons to Socrates in ancient Greece. Wolfsbane was
prevent them from being eaten. While
some will cause only a stomachache,
others can kill. You should never eat
any part of a plant, unless an expert
can confirm it is safe.