Velcro-Like Cells in Flowers Help Insects Grip

Special plant cells found only in flowers allow pollinators to hold on during windy weather, UK researchers have discovered.
Velcro-Like Cells in Flowers Help Insects Grip
The petal surface of a Veronica flower, under a scanning electron microscope. Beverley Glover
|Updated:
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Salvia.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-243872" title="A bee gripping a purple Salvia inflorescence. (Alison Reed)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Salvia-396x450.jpg" alt="A bee gripping a purple Salvia inflorescence. (Alison Reed)" width="845" height="960"/></a>
A bee gripping a purple Salvia inflorescence. (Alison Reed)

 

Special plant cells found only in flowers allow pollinators to hold on during windy weather, U.K. researchers have discovered.

These tiny pyramid-shaped cells are typically about 1/50th of a millimeter wide and occur in around 80 percent of flowers that have petals.