Why do water lilies sleep?

Water lilies (Nymphaea spp.) are as beautiful as lotus flowers in the mud. And because its flowers close at night and reopen the next morning, it is called the sleeping beauty in the flowers.

So, is it really sleepy and sleepy like us?

Water lilies are plants, plants have no nerves and no feelings, and of course they don't feel tired or sleepy. We know that animals have their own biological clock and have their own day and night routine. In fact, the same is true of plants, which also have circadian rhythms. In a day, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the environmental factors such as light, temperature, humidity and natural enemies also change accordingly. In order to adapt to this change, plants will naturally make corresponding changes.

Early in the morning, when the sun rises, the leaves of plants stretch to receive sunlight, and their stomata open to absorb carbon dioxide, the raw material of photosynthesis. In the afternoon, the sun is strong and the stomata are partially closed to reduce water loss. At sunset in the evening, the leaves droop and the stomata are closed to avoid unnecessary water loss at night.

If you film this process and release it quickly, you can see the leaves moving one by one. In particular, the closure of the leaves of legumes in the evening is the most obvious, such as mimosa, even when disturbed. Therefore, some people think that blade closure can also reduce the target and reduce the damage of natural enemies.

As for the opening and closing rules of flowers, it is more complicated:

On the one hand, in tropical plants, in order to avoid being burned by the hot sun, flowers often avoid blooming during the day or noon, while in cold areas, they should avoid heat loss and frostbite caused by opening at night.

On the other hand, plants bloom to attract insects and birds to pollinate and reproduce, and these pollinators have different schedules, such as bees, butterflies and birds, while moths and honey-eating bats are nocturnal animals, so plants adjust their flowering time to attract specific pollinators.

Water lily is a widely distributed plant, which can be found all over the world. As a result, different environments have created different schedules for sleeping lotus flowers. There are water lilies that open at night (Thomas), open at noon (fresh powder), open at noon and close at night (Hefra) and close early at night (soft toothed red water lilies).

Thomas.

Fresh powder

Hefra

Soft hairy tooth leaf red water lily

In addition to the reasons mentioned above, some water lilies also close the insects in the flowers, covered with pollen, and then open the petals the next day, releasing poor "prisoners" to pollinate themselves.