Floral biology

Floral biology is an area of ecological research that studies the evolutionary factors that have moulded the structures, behaviour and physiological aspects involved in the flowering of plants. The field is broad and interdisciplinary and involves research requiring expertise from multiple disciplines that can include botany, ethology, biochemistry, entomology and a range of analytical techniques. A slightly narrower area of research within floral biology is sometimes termed as pollination biology or anthecology.

Flowers are structures that are produced by angiosperms and their evolution is intricately associated with their pollinators, particularly insects. Flowers are costly structures that target pollinators by offering them rewards so as to enhance cross-pollination. The evolution of the size of flowers, their structure and the nature of rewards and the way these signals are transmitted and perceived by potential pollinators are typically examined in terms of the costs incurred and the benefits accrued. The timing of flowering, the duration of flowering and the mode by which they cease to function once their role is fulfilled are all areas of research within the field of floral biology.

Studies in floral biology can have applications since pollination and fruit set are key factors that affect yield in all crop plants.

The beginnings of the field of floral biology is generally traced to Christian Konrad Sprengel's Entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur im Bau in der Befruchtung der Blumen (The Secret of Nature in the Form and Fertilization of Flowers Discovered) (1793). Sprengel may however have been influenced by the earlier work of Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter in 1761. Sprengel began his studied in 1787 starting with the wood cranesbill Geranium sylvaticum. He noted that the lower portions of the petals had soft hairs. He believed in the wisdom of the "Creator" and that not even a single hard could be without purpose. He suggested that the hairs were present to protect the nectar from rain like eyebrows and eyelashes preventing sweat to flow into the eyes. It took him six years of observation in which time he examined 461 plants. He observed that orchids lacked nectar but had nectar guides. He called these as false nectar flowers and observed that the flowers of Aristolochia trapped insects. His book included twenty five illustrations. Sprengel's work was favourably viewed by Carl Ludwig Willdenow who incorporated some of the results in his Grundriss der Kräuterkunde zu Vorlesungen (1802). Sprengel noted, contrary to popular belief of his time, that flowers were aimed to prevent self-fertilization. Sprengel identified the patterns on the petals as nectar guides ("Saftmale") for pollinators.At that time flowers were considered as the place for the marriage of the stamens and pistils and nectar was thought to aid the growing seeds. Bees were thought of as thieves. Sprengel's work was criticized by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Sprengel's work however got wider coverage in the English speaking world only after Charles Darwin credited him in his Fertilisation of Orchids (1862).

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