17 interesting facts about colors
Flowers are essential in the culture of most peoples. Somewhere they are used for decoration, somewhere they serve as a sign of attention, and somewhere they are completely revered, as, for example, in some countries of Africa. It would seem that these are just plant propagation organs, but humanity has made a real cult of them, and for many hundreds of years, in most parts of the Earth, a bouquet of flowers has served as a universal gift.
1. The smallest flower in the world, belonging to the duckweed family, has a diameter of only 1 millimeter. The largest flower on the planet boasts a tropical plant of Arnold’s rafflesia – with a diameter of 91 centimeters, it weighs about 11 kilograms.
2.White colors do not exist – in fact, they are colorless, that is, they do not have any color pigments and simply reflect sunlight. Black pigment also does not exist in the world of colors – the color can be either dark red or deep purple.
3.Flowers close at night to prevent the cooling of their reproductive organs or their damage by cold dew.
4. Bees can distinguish between flowers with and without nectar due to the ability to see in the ultraviolet. The guidelines for them are various spots, lines and patterns found on the petals (see interesting facts about bees).
5. In Hinduism, flowers are widely used for sacrifices – they are burned in a ritual fire to get rid of diseases and cleanse the environment.
6. The bells are always directed down to protect the nectar inside the flowers from rain.
7. In Australia, the risentella orchid does not bloom on the surface, but underground. Its pollination is not done by bees, but by beetles (see interesting facts about Australia).
8. People brought out about 50,000 roses and their hybrids. This is the most popular flower for bouquets and the most common inflorescence for the image on the arms.
9. The oldest rose on the planet for 1000 years adorns the German town of Hildesheim. Despite its advanced age, the flower continues to bloom every year.
10. In the dogrose, also a rose, there are only 5 petals, and in artificially bred varieties their number reaches 128.
11. The world’s largest water lily, Victoria Regia, reaches 2 meters in diameter and is capable of supporting the weight of an adult. In its lower part there are spikes that protect the water lily from fish.
12. Jasmine is a relative of the olive tree, although outwardly they are completely different. But for jasmine, they are often mistaken as a mocker with beautiful white flowers that exude a delicate aroma, although these plants belong to different families.
13. There is a curious legend about the origin of the name of the flower “forget-me-not”, which is common to many languages of the world (for example, in English this flower is called forget-me-not).
14. According to legend, on one of the days of Creation, God gave names to all flowers. One of them asked: “Do not forget about me,” and the Creator replied: “Well, that’s your name.”
15. Scientists have proven that flowers respond differently to people depending on how they relate to them.
16. The most expensive flower in the world can be bought for about 5 thousand dollars. This is a golden orchid that grows in the mountains of Malaysia and first blossoms only at the age of 15 years (see interesting facts about Malaysia).
17. The tallest flower on Earth is the pride of Indonesia – it is called titanic amorphophallus and rises about 3 meters above the ground. Its underground tuber weighs about 50 kilograms, and the thickness of the petiole is up to 5 meters. This giant outwardly resembles a piece of decaying meat and spreads around itself the stupefying smell of rotten eggs.
The world’s first floral watch was planted in 1720 in Switzerland. The dial was divided into 12 sectors, planted with various types of flowers that bloomed at different times of the day. The clock coped well with its task, allowing you to determine the time with an accuracy of half an hour. Unfortunately, on cloudy days the townspeople had to do without them, since some of the flowers without the sun did not open at all.
If you have been presented with a floral arrangement in an oasis (floristic sponge), do not swap flowers, this not only violates the arrangement, but also leads to a fast wilting of plants due to the formation of voids around the stem, where undesirable air bubbles enter. It is necessary to add a certain amount of water to the sponge daily, commensurate with its size, so that the oasis is always wet.
For flowers on a long stalk, choose a tall vase so that the load on the stems is minimal.
