When a pollinator is at your front steps about to come in for a drink of nectar, you'd be foolish to let a gust of wind blow her away. That's why most flowers have installed velcro doormats. Pointy cells give their petals an extra-grippy surface that encourages bees, even in the middle of a windstorm, to stop and stay a while.
Flowers such as roses, tomatoes, and petunias have cone-shaped cells in the surface of their petals. In fact, about 80 percent of flowers with traditional petals have these conical cells, says University of Cambridge plant scientist Beverley Glover. The cones make a flower's color appear more vibrant by focusing sunlight onto pigment held in the center of the cell. They also help bees latch on. Since the cells are about the same size as the tiny claws on bees' feet, the claws slide in between the cones for a ...
