Question

mammal pollinated flowers are quite sturdy. why?

Answer 1

Plant species that feed non-flying mammals will often exhibit similar characteristics to aid in pollination. The flowers are often large and sturdy, or are grouped together as multi-flowered inflorescences. Many non-flying mammals are nocturnal and have an acute sense of smell, so the plants tend not to have bright showy colors, but instead excrete a pungent odor. Plants will often flower profusely and produce a large amount of sugar-rich nectar. These plants also tend to produce large amounts of pollen because mammals are larger than some other pollinators, and lack the precision smaller pollinators can achieve (Carthewa 1997). Animals with more precision, such as bees or other insects with a proboscis, can pollinate small flowers with less pollen necessary. This means that a plant will require more pollen for a larger mammal pollinator.