The strange thing about flowers...

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keithp2012 West Babylon, NY(Zone 7a) Jun 05, 2014

For most, the flower dies to reproduce. That would be like an animal having an egg inside, dying, and when the flesh vanishes the egg hatches. If you think about its a weird survival tactic!

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hcmcdole Powder Springs, GA(Zone 7b) Jun 05, 2014

It is similar in a way too. Females (animals/insects) are fertile certain times of the year and if not fertilized during this time the egg is flushed out of the body. While the flower dies (either making seed or not) the plant continues to make new flowers in attempts to reproduce itself as many times as it can.

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keithp2012 West Babylon, NY(Zone 7a) Jun 05, 2014

Quote from hcmcdole :
It is similar in a way too. Females (animals/insects) are fertile certain times of the year and if not fertilized during this time the egg is flushed out of the body. While the flower dies (either making seed or not) the plant continues to make new flowers in attempts to reproduce itself as many times as it can.



But if the individual flower isn't fertilized it still dies anyway, it just lasts slightly longer. The plant will die too. Like a sunflower, once the flower dies, the whole plant dies, if it wasn't fertilized, that is an awful survival tactic as no offspring carry those genes.

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hcmcdole Powder Springs, GA(Zone 7b) Jun 05, 2014

Not every plant, animal, or person will reproduce. It doesn't matter since a thriving population spread over a large area is like having insurance against disaster.




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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Jun 05, 2014

Annuals are plants that can afford to put everything they have into the seeds, and not have to save any energy to come back next year. The seed is the overwinter survival mechanism.
If they do not get pollinated it might be a way of cleaning up the gene pool.
Perhaps they were the wrong color or fragrance and did not attract the pollinating insects.
Perhaps they bloomed too early and there were no pollinating agents or the flowers froze.
Perhaps they grew from a seed that had too good a dispersal system and there were no others of the same species near by to cross pollinate it.
Perhaps they got the genes wrong and did not develop a bad enough taste and something ate the flowers.
Or maybe they did everything right but had the bad luck to land in a bad spot with poor fertility or hit a bad weather year, or got eaten anyway.
Seed that was ripened and dispersed a few years ago will grow next year.

Another way to look at it:
Many seeds from the parent plant sprout, but some are eaten as if by having a lot of the same plant there are extras. Enough to feed the animals and still leave some intact flowers to grow next years' seeds. So the one that got eaten is still contributing to the success of its genes via its brother and sister plants that survived to set seed.

Perennials need to hold back some of their energy to survive through the cold winter and grow enough in the spring to reach the sun before they can put any energy into seeds. They often do this by hiding from the snow and ice underground.
Shrubs and trees need to save some energy to survive above ground (often devoting some energy into making the plant equivalent of anti-freeze) and then put out new leaves in the spring. Again, saving some of the energy that might have gone to the seed.
These plants get multiple years to try to reproduce, but must survive harsh seasons to get that chance.

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