Morning Glories: MG Hirsuteness - Whats the advantage?, 1 by Xeramtheum

Xeramtheum wrote:
Whilst in school I was taught to look at attributes of things as evolutional advantages or disadvantages. Pretty much everything we see from an evolutional point of view is an advantage as disadvantages don't last very long in the gene pool.

Upon perusing my many macro pictures of morning glory I began to wonder why some are very hairy and some not. It occurred to me that the hairy ones might have originated in rather dry climates and produced hair to collect dew for hydration or to direct rain to where it is needed most or actually keep water droplets from touching vulnerable parts. I also thought that the hairs might be some sort of armor against bugs as well, making it difficult to get to the yummy parts.

The picture is a bud of a very hairy Sunrise Serenade which got me thinking about hirsuteness again. So, whats the advantage?


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