A tale of
pollinators and pollination
as told by the official state flowers
We love
flowers for their beauty and for the impact they have on diverse aspects of our
lives. That is why we honor them by choosing an official state flower for each
state of the union. A look at the list of state flowers reveals an amazing
variety of shapes, colors, perfumes and blooming seasons. Some flowers are open
and rather flat; others are elongated, trumpet like, with spurs, or intricately
shaped. They may be grouped in clusters or stand alone. They come in a rainbow
of colors and their scents are equally varied. Some bloom briefly in just one
season, others do it for a longer time.
Why do
plants have flowers and why is there such a variety? We seldom think about a
flower’s function. Some even feel that
they were put here for our enjoyment. The fact is that their whole purpose is
to attract pollinators, those love messengers that carry pollen from blossom to
blossom ensuring the development of fruits and seeds and thus the future of the
plant’s species. The great variety of flowers is a sign of the diversity of
their pollinators. Both the flower and the pollinator complement each other to
the point that, in some cases, only one kind of pollinator can perform the job
for a particular kind of plant. This mutual fine tuning is the result of a long
process of co-evolution. Often one can tell the type of pollinator by looking
at the structure of the flower. For instance, flat, open flowers can be pollinated
by short tongued insects; longer ones require longer tongued visitors. Tubular
flowers are often pollinated by hummingbirds or very long-tongued moths. Night-bloomers
are pollinated by night-flyers such as hawk moths or bats.
We
often think of the honey bee as the ultimate pollinator and we seldom recognize
the fact that many other insects, as well as some other creatures perform that
job, in fact many plants have absolutely no use for honey bees. It is true that
honey bees are incredibly adaptable and that they visit a wide array of flowers
through several seasons, we could say that they are “Jacks of all trades” but
we must remember the second half of that saying: “and masters of none”. In many
instances flowers fare better in the absence of honey bees because some of them
have developed a long standing partnership with their respective pollinators.
Honey bees could interfere with such specialized pollinators.
Years ago, I was
looking at a book on state flowers and was astonished at their variety. It occurred
to me that it was possible to teach an entire course on pollination using state
flowers as examples. All it takes is one look at the assortment
of state flowers to see that there must be a similar diversity of pollinators
belonging to several different groups of animals, not just bees, but also
flies, butterflies, moths, beetles, and even bats and birds. Maybe some
day, the states will recognize the importance of pollinators and decide to
honor them also. After all, flowers would not exist without pollinators.
Some
flowers accept a variety of pollinators, for instance, black eyed Susan (Maryland’s state flower) and goldenrod (state flower of Kentucky, Nebraska and South Carolina). Others
are more selective, such as the flowering dogwood (state flower of North Carolina and Virginia).
A few are extremely specialized like the yucca (state flower of New Mexico), which needs
a tiny moth. No one else can do the job. Still others require unusual
pollinators like the saguaro (state flower of Arizona)
whose main pollinators are bats, or columbines (state flower of Colorado) which are pollinated
by hummingbirds.
Curiously,
thirteen states have chosen official state flowers that are not native and
therefore not truly representative of the state. Fortunately seven of them
decided to add an official state wildflower, for instance, the state flower of Ohio is the carnation
and its wildflower is the white trillium. I will mention a few of them because
they contribute something valuable to this tale of pollination. In other cases,
I will refer to the state tree if it bears flowers that add something to the pollination
story.
One may
wonder why some states chose flowers native to the old world rather than those
that represent the state flora. It seems that state flowers were chosen more
for their beauty, or economic importance. Perhaps part of the explanation is
that this is such a nation of immigrants that many people are more familiar
with the rose or the carnation than with any local flowers. Economic importance
counts too. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Florida chose the orange blossom as a state
flower.
In a
few cases there is some confusion about the choice of state flower. This is not
surprising considering that legislators are not botanists. The common name
could include only one or several species of similar plants. Which one of
several violets is the state symbol? Those states that chose the rose, were
they thinking of a native species of rose, or one of the common cultivated
varieties? Different sources give slightly different interpretations to
these choices. In general, I will follow the scientific nomenclature used
by the United States National Arboretum,
but I may include other interpretations in some instances if they illustrate an
interesting pollination point.
Here is
the story of pollination and pollinators as told through the examples of
official state flowers. In the next post I will describe the kind of pollination that
took place long before there were any insects or other animals to do the job,
in fact, long before there were flowers. Then, I will examine the earliest
forms of insect pollination. In following posts I will cover an
assortment of floral strategies, from the ones that attract hordes of different
pollinators to the specialists that prefer to deal with a select number of
helpers or even just one. I will include some strategies that include nasty
tricks played on pollinators and also an intriguing phenomenon, toxic nectar.
It makes one wonder why a flower would want to make its pollinators sick. I
haven’t forgotten pollinators of a different kind, non-insect ones, birds
and bats. Finally, to wrap up this tale, I will take a look at state flowers
and pollinators of economic importance.
More on pollinators and state flowers
References
State Symbols, USA
