MadSci Network: Agricultural Sciences |
Since plants, unlike animals, must stay in one location they need to carefully sense and respond to the changing environment around them. The light environment is extremely important to plants. Plants have special light sensors that influence flowering. These sensors are pigments that absorb light in much the same way chlorophyll does to make energy for the plant from sunlight. However, these special pigments called phytochrome, allow the plant to detect changes in the quality of light around them. They measure the day length which in turn helps them to know when to flower. Poinsettias and chrysanthemum are examples of plants that will only flower when the days are short. Temperature is also an important factor in flowering but sadly we do not yet understand how plants know the temperature. We do know that some plants will not flower unless they have been exposed to cold temperatures.
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