04 November 2011

Magnolias do not require bees for pollination

"Magnolia is an ancient genus. Having evolved before bees appeared, the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles."  
Via Reddit.  For the embed photo, however, I've selected an image of pollen adhering to the facial hairs of a miner bee, by Alliec2007, via animals, animals, animals.

5 comments:

  1. bunnitsNovember 4, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    On summer nights when the magnolias are blooming and their fragrance fills the air, I like to think of those very prehistoric days when the first flowering plants and trees flourished and of the species that shared that time. It must have been really something.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 4, 2011 at 10:36 PM

    That photo is awesome. Looks like the bee got caught mid-pollen binge

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  3. AnonymousNovember 5, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    I don't know how to contact Minnesotastan.... Here is a video from up your way - you people are funny!

    This is a tortoise btw...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCzv6CSSKQw

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  4. MinnesotastanNovember 5, 2011 at 5:22 PM

    My blog-associated email address is in the right sidebar in the "about me" section.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousNovember 6, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    No, the flowers did NOT develop to encourage bee pollination. That gives the appearance the evolution "does things." Rather, the trees that DID have flowers gained a natural advantage, since bees kept them in business. The tree didn't sit around thinking, "Hmmm, how can I encourage the bees?" (SMILE). Love the website!

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