Wolffia angusta

Along with the other members of the Wolffia family, the Wolffia angusta is the smallest flowering plant to be found anywhere on Earth. They are an aquatic plant and float on the surface of fresh water.

The minute Wolffia is also good to eat, being extremely high in protein; it contains proportionately as much as a soya bean! In many parts of Asia they are a valuable food source.

Wolffias are so tiny that, after being swept up by tornados, they have been found in the melted water of hailstones.

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Love it or loathe it, genetic engineering has been used in agriculture for years and is becoming increasingly widespread. Employing everything from selective cross breeding up to modern gene splicing techniques, science has been able to produce plants that are bigger, grow faster and are more resistant to disease. Now it seems it’s the turn of flowers to experience the benefit of a genetic makeover.

Researchers have discovered the means to enhance not only the look of flowers, but also their smell. Scientists from the University of Jerusalem say they can massively increase the scent given off by flowers, so that the aroma they produce is up to 10 times as strong.

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The interesting facts about flowers are so innumerable they could probably fill an entire series of QI, with plenty left over. Here are a few to get Stephen Fry and co. started:

• Attar of Roses (or rose oil) is used as the base for the most expensive perfumes in the world. Perhaps the reason for the great expense is that it takes four tons of roses (two million individual flowers) to make just 2lb of Attar.
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Wordsworth might have loved them, but it seems that the sight of a host of golden daffodils isn’t to everyone’s taste.

A leading environmental campaigner wants the flowers removed from the British countryside, saying they are “spoiling” our country lanes and woodlands and crowding out our native wild flowers.

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A nice bouquet and a bag of grapes have been almost mandatory hospital gifts for years; some healthy fresh fruit and a bunch of flowers to brighten the place up, lift the mood and give ailing friends or family something beautiful to look at.

So it might seem a little odd that flowers are now banned from many hospital wards around the country. The reason? The fear that vases of flowers by the bedside might pose a health risk and impact on nursing.

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Not everything is quite as it first appears in the natural world. Look closely and you’ll see a whole host of plants and animals trying to disguise themselves as something else entirely.

Whether it be flowers, insects, or sea creatures, natural mimics seek to gain an advantage over the competition – often to avoid being eaten or help them find their next meal. Prime examples of this camouflage approach are several insects which blend in to their environment.

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Charles Darwin, the renowned naturalist who proposed the theory of natural selection had a thing for orchids. He had studied thousands of plants and animals prior to the publication in 1859 of the seminal work “On the Origin of the Species”, but the orchid held special interest for him.

Darwin had long been fascinated by insect pollination and had studied the wild orchids found along the Torquay coastline while on family holidays. In particular, he examined how the different petal colours and formations attracted bees and moths to pollinate the plants. Challenging the idea the huge variety in flowers served no real purpose other than beauty, Darwin contended that there must be a reason why each variety of flower – the array of different shapes and colours –  looked as they did.

Knowing of his interest in orchids, the horticulturist James Bateman sent Darwin several examples of Angraecum sesquipedale, which had been discovered by French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in 1798, but only described in 1822.

The orchid, also known as the Star of Bethlehem orchid and King of the Angraecums, was an impressive flower only found on the island of Madagascar.

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