• Question: why does flower smell

    Asked by Becky to Angela, Gabriele, Karen, Shane on 20 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Shane Mc Guinness

      Shane Mc Guinness answered on 20 Nov 2013:

      Great question Becky,
      Well, flowers are the part of plants that contain the seed or pollen to help it recreate. The smell it generates is so that the right type of animal that is going to transport seeds or pollen finds the right flower. Some smells attract some animals, others repel some animals. The flower produces these smells so that these animals are attracted to it so that the plant can continue to reproduce!

    • Photo: Karen McCarthy

      Karen McCarthy answered on 20 Nov 2013:

      Flowers have such a lovely fresh smell to us – imagine how amazing they must smell to the real targets, bees and insects! Flowers need to pollinate, or spread their pollen to new areas to reproduce and breed. Because flowers are obviously stationary, or still objects, they need a little help – by encouraging insects and animals to sniff or eat some of the nectar (sweet sugarly liquid), they can use these insects to spread their pollen!

    • Photo: Angela Stevenson

      Angela Stevenson answered on 20 Nov 2013:

      Hi Becky! They produce scent in order to attract pollinators, like bees and flies, who will hopefully transport the pollen (the male bits of the flower) to the stigma where it germinates and its pollen tube grows down the style to the ovary (the female bits of the flower). Yep, that’s right, plants need to achieve fertilization (just like us) in order to reproduce. Great question!

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