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Buttonwillow wants you to learn more about science. Let her know what you are curious about, and she will be glad to answer your questions. You can send your questions to her by going to the contact page, and filling out the form. She looks forward to hearing from you! July 28, 2014 Q. Why do some flowers close up at night? Do plants sleep? A. Some plants do look like they are sleeping at night. These include Day Lilies, (pictured above) Blue Flax, Crocus, and others. This behavior is called nyctinasty. Wowza! There is a big word! It is pronounced, nik-tin-a-sti. Now you can really impress the adults around you with a new, big, word! Scientists aren't sure why some plants do this. They understand the how part of it though. The cool air and darkness cause the bottom petals of the flower to grow fast, forcing the flowers to close. There are different theories about why this happens. The flower might be protecting its pollen from the dew. Maybe the flower knows to save it's good (or bad) odor for the daytime pollinators. It could even be a defense mechanism. By closing up the flowers, the ground underneath is more exposed, giving night time predators a better chance of finding a nocturnal plant nibbler. (The folks at livescience.com helped me find this answer.) Thanks Marci R. for a great question! You can send in a question of the day by emailing Buttonwillow at [email protected]
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