Why are night blooming flowers generally white?

White is considered as the lightest color and achromatic without any hue as it fully reflects and scatters all the visible spectrum of light. White stands out dramatically with limited light. Besides, color, smell and overall form of any flower are produced for the sole purpose of pollination. During the daytime, flowers with colored petals generally attract butterflies, bees, and other insects. On the other hand, night-blooming flowers usually attract moths and other nocturnal pollinators. Night blooming flowers are generally white and fragrant as well because there is no purpose for them to be colorful at night. White flowers also reflect moonlight. Why they flower at night is because they avoid competition from day blooming pollinators. It’s nature’s win-win situation for plants as well as pollinating animals. 

Q. How does the bee know which flower has nectar?

is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries. Nectar is produced by plants to attract pollinators including bees. Besides, nectar-bearing flowers are attractive and produce fragrance as well. These features attract bees to such flower-bearing plants. 

Q. Why does cactus have so many thorns?

The cactus thorns are actually modified leaves. This modification is meant to reduce the transpiration rate. Cactus grows in deserts where water is a limiting factor. If cactus has normal leaves, the loss of water through transpiration would be more. That’s why the leaves modified into spines and the stem modified to a flattened green structure responsible for photosynthesis. Besides, the thorns protect plants from animals.

Q. How does the chick recognize her own mother?

The chick recognizes her own mother through the process called imprinting that involves vision, hearing, and olfaction along with touch. Once the egg hatches and the chicks come out – they see the mother, her smell and sound get imprinted within 24 to 48 hours. This type of learning is limited to discrete and sensitive periods in an animal’s life, often when the animal is very young and it has long-lasting effects. Imprinting usually means that the animals learn to identify; approach and follow something or someone, usually a parent. And that helps the animal to find food, shelter, and warmth, etc. Chicks show this type of learning within the first 48 hours after hatching.