Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 1 hr ago
Clear petal patches warm flowers and reduce their microbes
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University studied two flowering shrubs in south-central Florida: fetterbush and Lyonia fruticosa.
Their flowers have clear patches near the base of the petals that let more sunlight through than the surrounding petal.
The researchers found that infrared light warmed the flowers, while ultraviolet light did not account for the change in microbes.
Across 108 flowers with complete measurements, warmer flowers generally had fewer microbes, especially yeasts.
The two shrubs differed: warmer Lyonia fruticosa flowers had fewer bacteria, but temperature made little difference to bacteria in fetterbush flowers.
Insects that visit flowers can carry microbes, so the findings may help explain how flower conditions affect the organisms found inside them.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University found that warmer flowers of two Florida shrubs carried fewer microbes.
They concluded that infrared light passing through clear patches in the petals warmed the flowers, while ultraviolet light did not explain the lower microbe levels.
The study examined fetterbush and Lyonia fruticosa, which grow in south-central Florida and bloom together in late spring.
The effects differed between the species: warmer Lyonia fruticosa flowers had fewer bacteria, while temperature made little difference to bacteria in fetterbush.
- Who
- Researchers at Florida Atlantic University, including Ph.D. student Jessica Williams.
- What
- They found that warmer flowers carried fewer microbes, with infrared light through clear petal patches contributing to the warmth.
- When
- The flowers were sampled over three days in May 2025.
- Where
- Archbold Biological Station in Florida. The shrubs grow in the sandy scrub of south-central Florida.
- Why
- The researchers investigated how clear petal patches affect light and heat inside flowers and the microbes they carry.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A study in Frontiers in Microbiology found that heat can change which bacteria live in a flower’s nectar.
Researchers sampled flowers from both shrub species at Archbold Biological Station over three days.
- Species
- Lyonia lucida (fetterbush) and Lyonia fruticosa
- Sampled flowers
- 126 across nine plants per species
- Flowers with full measurements
- 108
- Growth-plate temperature
- 81°F (27°C)
- Ultraviolet test
- After 30 seconds under a germicidal lamp, the share of Lyonia fruticosa rinses with any yeast fell from 90% to 60%