Tulip colors and tulip intelligence
Joe Shaw (Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:42:47 PDT)

Hi Gang,

Flower colors are endlessly variable. When color, shape and size are
considered together the variation goes on forever and that is part of the
reason flowers are so special.

One recent article explores the reason for blue petal bases in Tulipa
gesneriana cv. Murasakizuisho. The flower is mostly purple, but the bases
of the tepals are blue. The scientists ground up the various parts of the
tepals and analyzed them. The found that the extracts from purple regions
and blue regions were essentially identical with a single exception; the
blue regions had higher concentrations of iron. The blue-colored cells had
about 25-fold more iron than the purple-colored cells.

Tulips are clever. Somehow they know to concentrate iron in specific cells
of the perianth, or perhaps to deplete iron from other cells. Additionally,
ferrous iron (Fe3+) is employed for the effect, not ferric iron (Fe2+).
I've always known that tulips are among the more intelligent of plants and
think that this news reinforces that idea.

LINK: (Abstract) Perianth Bottom-Specific Blue Color Development in Tulip
cv. Murasakizuisho Requires Ferric Ions
http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/…

Cordially,

Joe
Conroe TX
Rain is forecast, rainlilies are blooming, a green heron has adopted my
garden (the low part) as its own. The frogs, mosquito fish, and small
snakes are a bonanza this spring; in 2 months the wet area will likely be
dry.