Europe PMC · 2026-01-18
Big flowers on magnolia trees aren't just showy — they actively attract more bees, boost pollination for neighboring smaller flowers, and efficiently recycle nutrients back into the plant as petals fall. This challenges the assumption that large flowers are an evolutionary extravagance.
Bumblebees and honeybees preferentially visited large flowers first, and branches with only small flowers (large ones covered) saw significantly fewer pollinator visits and lower seed set.
Large flowers produced more pollen and had greater display area but shorter petal lifespan than small flowers, suggesting a fast-and-effective reproductive strategy.
Large flowers showed significantly higher resorption efficiency of nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll, starch, sugars, and proteins from senescing petals compared to small flowers.
