Courtney Morris, age 13, of Cumberland, Md., for her question:
HOW MANY KINDS OF WILD FLOWERS ARE THERE?
A flower is the blossom of a plant. Any plant that produces some sort of flower is said to be a flowering plant. There are about 200,000 known types of flowers with at least 12,000 of them being classified as wild flowers.
Wild flowers grow almost everywhere and they require no attention. You'll find them blooming in woods, deserts, jungles, fields, meadows and swamps. They grow on mountaintops, along streams or near lakes and oceans.
Woodland wild flowers thrive on deep, rich humus formed by decaying leaves and wood. Many bloom in early spring when the most sun hits the forest floor, but others bloom later on and do well with only the small amount of sunlight that filters through the leaves of overhanging trees.
Desert wild flowers probably have the most unfavorable conditions of all plants. Rain usually falls only during a very short season, and the rest of the year sun usually bakes the sandy soil.
But wild flowering desert plants seem to have solved all of the problems. They grow fast during and after rains. They produce very bright flowers that seem to quickly attract insects for pollination. The seeds mature rapidly, before the hot rays of the sun have time to wither the plants.
Prairie wild flowers are also tough. The roots of many prairie plants go deep into the earth. The roots can even withstand the fires that sometimes sweep across the plains.
Wild prairie plants store food in their underground parts. And even when the plant above the ground burns completely, the roots usually remain alive and can send up new shoots.
Some wild flowering plants prefer sandy seashores and sand dunes. They often sprawl flat over the sand, with vinelike branches and underground roots and stems. Many can live where the soil, water and even the air contains salt.
Wild swamp flowers grow best in wet meadows and along the edges of ponds and streams. They must have plenty of sunshine in order to survive.
Thousands of different kinds of wild flowers grow in tropical forests. Often they must compete for sunlight, so many of them take the form of vines that can climb to the tops of trees or send shoots out into clearings.
Some wild tropical flowers are air plants that live on the trunks and branches of trees. They do not get their food directly from the trees, but from the air and from the decaying leaves that collect around their roots.
Carniverous plants, the type that trap insects and other small animals, can also be found growing wild in many parts of the world. Crawling insects can get caught on broad, sticky leaves or in tiny baglike traps.
Many wild flowers can be preserved for examination. Simply press
them between sheets of newspapers, and put a weight on top of the samples. Within a few days, the wild flowers will most likely be completely dry. They should be carefully handled as you study them.