Ecology

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🌼🌞 Did you know that some flowers can refrigerate themselves to survive scorching summers? The clustered carline thistle, found in southern Spain, has a unique survival strategy that keeps its flower heads up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the surrounding air! 🌡️

This humble thistle blossom thrives in brutal heat when most other plants shrivel and die, giving it a monopoly on local bees and other pollinators. Researchers discovered that the thistle's cooling mechanism could be due to evaporative cooling, essentially making the plant "sweat" to prevent its delicate reproductive organs from overheating. 💦

As heat waves become more frequent and intense with climate change, studying unusual adaptations like these becomes increasingly important. However, whether these plants will have enough water to keep the system working remains to be seen. 🤔

Read more about this fascinating discovery in the Scientific Naturalist! 📖 #ClusteredCarlineThistle #HeatwaveSurvival #PlantAdaptations #ClimateChange