Oriental poppies, not so flamboyant at night

Noticed that as the evening falls, the oriental poppy (papaver orientale) in our garden pull its petals over its seed pod in the centre in a manner that says it is ready to huddle up for the night. 


Certain types of plants, the poppy included, have a mechanism called nyctinasty, that allows them to open during the day and close at night. Scientists know how this occurs, but are not entirely sure why. Flowers and plants have their own circadian rhythm that allows this opening and closing. Experiments have shown how flowers and plants can open and close in complete darkness with change in light, temperature or other external stimulus.


There are a couple of theories that surround this. One is that flowers close at night to conserve energy for pollination during the day, when insects are most active. The other is that a flower closes its petals to protect its pollen from getting wet from dew. Dry, sticky pollen is more easily transferred to and by insects, improving the plant's reproduction prospects. The latter theory must definitely resonate with our poppies given the wet summer we have had so far!