Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Liang H
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3078366 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110321 14
Despite the common use of the blooming metaphor, its floral inspiration remains poorly understood. Here we study the physical process of blooming in the asiatic lily Lilium casablanca. Our observations show that the edges of the petals wrinkle as the flower opens, suggesting that differential growth drives the deployment of these laminar shell-like structures. We use a combination of surgical manipulations and quantitative measurements to confirm this hypothesis and provide a simple theory for t ...[more]