1. WILDFLOWERS
Chapter 13

2. Wildflower Facts and Figures
More than 150,000 species of flowering plants (angiosperms)
Wildflowers grow naturally without human help
Wildflowers serve as food for many wildlife species, especially the stems and leaves
Bright colored flowers are to attract the pollinators
Nectar is a sugary fluid used to also attract pollinators which serves as food for the pollinator
Some animals, such as bees, use the nectar to make food (honey)

3. Fruit and Seeds Fruit contains the seeds
Fruit encourages animals to eat so seeds are dispersed with feces
Other methods of seed dispersal include wind, clinging to animals (sandspurs, beggar lice, etc.), seed burial (acorns by squirrels), moving water carries seeds

4. Cover Flowering plants often provide cover for animals
Birds often use plants for nesting cover
Vegetation also provides escape cover

5. Other Benefits Vegetation holds the soil in place preventing erosion
Plants help clean the environment (plants remove carbon dioxide which causes global warming)
Some plants can remove heavy metals from the soil
Many plants have economic value (cane for fishing pole, baskets, wreaths, cotton for clothing, etc.)
Food for humans

7. Growing Wildflowers Most wildflowers are either annuals or perennials
Annuals live one growing season
Annuals sprout in the spring, grow in the summer, flower, then die before winter.
Annuals regrow each year from the seed produced the year before
Perennials continue their life span for several years from the original roots