According to Michael Pollan, the tulip’s survival relies on its beauty as part of its evolutionary design. As a young boy, Pollan planted his first flower, a tulip, and later in adulthood rediscovered its beauty. He compares the human fascination with flowers to his childhood belief that flowers were “useless.” The attractiveness of the tulip entices pollinators like bees, who help spread essential pollen. The appeal of flowers to pollinators and humans can vary in visual and tactile effects. Hunger or sexual needs can easily attract insects, birds, or mammals. Some flowers mimic animals or scents to attract desired pollinators. Tulips caused a frenzy known as tulipomania, demonstrating how beauty serves as a survival strategy. If not for the desire and obsession with growing tulips, there may have been a chance for their extinction.
The two main principles of beauty, according to Pollan, are contrasting with surroundings and symmetry. When surrounded by green, a flower can easily stand out with contrasting colors ranging from red to yellow. Bright colors attract bees, who were once thought to be color blind but see colors differently from humans. This creates a relationship between the bees and the flowers. Symmetry adds interest to the viewer and can have different meanings, such as indicating health. Any disruptions to the pattern may cause bees to overlook the flower. Different bees have different preferences, much like humans. Honeybees prefer flowers with radial symmetry while bumblebees favor those with bilateral symmetry.
From a biological standpoint, beauty holds significance in terms of both health and sexual attraction. According to Pollan, beauty is often observed in relation to sex within nature. Certain flowers not only imitate scents but also excel at imitating the appearance of other organisms. While pollinators may believe they are fulfilling their own needs, these flowers actually exploit them for their own pollination requirements. Sexual selection refers to the process by which individuals select mates of the opposite gender for reproductive purposes. This involves competing with members of the same gender to appear more attractive. The ultimate goal is to be chosen and able to produce offspring that are healthy. Beauty plays a vital role in sexual selection, as demonstrated by a flower that appears brighter than its surroundings and therefore attracts more insects compared to other flowers that may have some pollinators but not as many as this particular flower does. Numerous organisms utilize beauty as an indicator of overall health; as Pollan notes, “In nature, the cost associated with beauty is typically achieved through sexual means.”
Human beings, insects, and birds may have evolved to appreciate the beauty of flowers in a similar way. Flowers have the ability to capture not only the attention of these creatures but also humans. While many people find flowers beautiful and decorative, their significance goes beyond just aesthetics. Some plants produce fruits after flowering, which are essential for human survival. In fact, many of the food items we consume, such as corn, wheat, and rice, come from these plants. Additionally, flowers possess medicinal properties and were utilized in ancient Chinese civilizations. For instance, Peonies served as an ingredient to create a tonic that acted as a muscle relaxant.
The diversity of the tulip has been influenced by human propagation, as seen during the time of tulipomania when different types of tulips were introduced. Turkish, Dutch, and French paintings, as well as botanical illustrations, display these various tulips. Like any other flower, a tulip can become extinct or undergo changes to survive if it falls out of favor. Tulip bulbs do not reliably return each year and during the frenzy of tulipomania, people desired specific colors. Many individuals even abandoned their trades to focus on growing tulips after realizing their potential for high profits. The ultimate objective was to cultivate the broken tulip. People went to great lengths to figure out how to make their tulips break but later discovered that a virus caused the color breaks. Despite numerous attempts, why were they unable to increase the breeding of tulips? Humans possess the ability to enhance flower reproduction for various purposes although it is not an easy task. Nonetheless, some argue that certain flowers have a captivating beauty that can manipulate us in some way.
