Flowers

     You all know what a flower is, right? Well here's a brief reminder.

     Here are some Alfalfa flowers. Flowers, are the reproductive bodies of many plants. For farmers, they are very important. If reproduction is a foreign concept to you, I suggest you ask your mother about it. For the rest of you, know that no reproduction means no seeds and no fruit.

     Here are a couple of Morning Glory flowers. It's much easier to see the various parts of the flower of this invasive, yet pretty, weed. In the very middle you'll see a white "U" shaped part. That's the pistil. A pistil is the lady part of a flower where the seeds will form. The purple parts ringing the pistil are called stamens, and they're the gentleman parts of the flower. Stamens have pollen on them, which is full of genetic information. The idea, is to get the pollen from one plant to the pistil of another (of the same species, of course).
     Different plants have differing methods of pollination. Many rely on pollinators, (insects, birds, or bats) while others have pollen that is carried by natural phenomena such as the wind or sometimes even water. This gives you all kinds of shapes of flowers.
     Have you ever seen asparagus flowers?

     Well you have now! These flowers are too small for even a leafcutter bee to fit inside, and many insects (butterflies and honey bees) have long tongues that will keep them from even getting pollen on them. So, I would suppose that these flowers are meant to be pollinated by some sort of little insect, but I have no proof of that.
     A side note: When alfalfa flowers first bloom they look like this...

     Notice how you can't see any of the pollinating parts? They're encased in those two petals in the middle. They need to be sprung, like a trap. A small bee, such as the leafcutter comes along and roughs the flower up a bit while looking for nectar and pow! The alfalfa's reproductive parts are spring-loaded. It pops out of the encasing petals and "punches" the little bee, scattering pollen all over it. Honey bees can use their long tongue to avoid this forced pollination entirely. That's why farmers need to import the leafcutter bees.
     Bumble bees are also good pollinators of alfalfa. Due to their size, they can spring a whole bunch of flowers by just bumbling over them. Unfortunately, bumble bees are difficult to domesticate. And while someone claims to have done just that, they are a subspecies that is not native to this part of the country, so they cannot be sold here. Everything in it's time.

     Flowers are pretty. This is well known. But in nature, there is nothing that doesn't serve a purpose. Flowers generally exist to entice in pollinators. It's a fascinating subject, but far too extensive to get very deeply into here. The important point here, is that to all farmers, in Owyhee County and beyond, they're a very important thing to keep track of. And a lot of time and effort will go into making sure that they fulfill their purpose.