I found this picture on a site called “Wedding Flowers”, which is kind of interesting, since 30% of yellow evening primroses reproduce asexually. I think that means it’s the best wedding flower for marriages in which the partners intend to clone themselves.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Dratted flowers getting it the wrong way round! It’s the sexytimes minus the reproduction I’d want for my wedding symbols!
Nice yellow flowers.
What’s all those red things in the middle?
They’re kinda creepy.
chigau @2,
Unopened buds, as far as I can tell. Look at the base of the open flowers.
Primrose oil is often used as a means of boosting fertility, so maybe that was their plan. Of course, research shows that it boosts both fertility and spontaneous abortion so that, in the end, the birth rates even out. There is, however, an tendency toward increased litter size (study in foxes) when taking primrose, but this appears to be due to an effect on males rather than females.
As to asexual reproduction, it was my understanding that 30% of the species within the genus reproduce asexually and not that 30% of members within a species reproduce asexually. O. biennis is one that I thought had completely asexual reproduction. I assume that the reference to “yellow evening primroses” refers to more than one species in this case, which would make sense. Although searches for “yellow evening primrose” always seem to point to O. biennis. Any light you can shed on the matter would be appreciated as the article linked to doesn’t give a great deal of information. Thanks for an interesting article.
Well, you know people felt uncomfortable about walking down the aisle with their father while carrying a bunch of dildos. So they exchanged it for a much more subtle euphemism, then forgot what it meant… or they’re planning one of those marriages where they use sex as a weapon in their constant power squabbles.
It’s like that song ‘Clonie’ by Nellie McKay…
Doesn’t this post suggest, wrongly, that marriage’s only function is for reproduction? PZ, don’t forget there’s plenty of people who get married and have no intention of having kids.