Thursday, March 19, 2009

Tulips: The Evolutionary Enigma

Some of my time at Kroger is spent in the floral department. Much of this time consists of me standing around, thinking of things. Coincidentally, much of my time in the meat department is spent exactly the same way.

This time well spent is responsible for a variety of my revelations; one of the more recent revelations involves the tulip. While making [many] Valentine's arrangements, tulips gave me more trouble than any other flower. They have a quality that makes arranging them a tricky task.

I like tulips, they're great...and yet puzzling. Much like other flowers, tulips open as they bloom. However, they reach a point at which they just fall over. It's almost like they over-bloom. They open up to a point at which the stem is not strong enough to support the flower. Enter, my revelation: tulips are the result of some form of floral inbreeding.

Wouldn't you think that the inability to support one's head be something that natural selection would have addressed at some point? No such animal would survive in the wild, and yet the tulip continues to thrive.

iPhone has saved the day once again, by snapping a few photos for your evaluation of this evolutionary enigma.

1 comment:

k_squared_ said...

I like the Kroger floral case pics! :)

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