Winter plants; the flowers that challenged Persephone

The Flowers That Challenged Persephone

It was said that she was the most beautiful of the daughters of Zeus, the ruler of the world. Captivated by its beauty, the god of hell, Hades, asked the great Zeus for his hand and he gave his consent. When Demeter, goddess of the earth and agriculture, learned that her daughter would live forever in the kingdom of the dead, she became so distressed that the trees lost their leaves, the plants dried up, the flowers withered and hunger devastated the known world. Faced with this catastrophe, Zeus asked Hades to return the young woman to the world of the living—at least—for half the year. When Demeter embraced her daughter again, her happiness was such that she made the earth produce spring flowers, green forests and abundant fruits and grains for the crops. However, her grief returned each fall when Persephone had to return to the underground world. The desolation of winter and the death of vegetation were considered to be the biannual manifestation of Demeter's pain when her daughter was taken from her.

It's already the middle of winter in the Iberian Peninsula. Beyond the explanation that myths have always tried to give to the functioning of nature, there are numerous species of plants that, unrelated to the pain of Demeter and the grief of Persephone, flourish at this time of year, a priori, unfavorable to the biology of the plant kingdom, and insist on showing their best clothes, thus banishing the ancient idea that autumn and winter are only seasons of barren fields, mushrooms and dry leaves. The flowers that challenged Persephone.

Adaptive strategies to the cold

Plants implement multiple strategies to survive and reproduce, especially in a Phenology with low temperatures, less light, lack of nutrients and scarcity of pollinators, but, without a doubt, autumn and winter are perfectly usable “niches” of time for the plant kingdom, of course, duly complying with the laws of evolution.

A good reason to bloom at this time of year is a simple use of resources: there are still insects and very few flowers to go to in search of food, making it easier to attract them and ensure rapid and effective pollination. For this purpose, late-flowering plants have brightly colored petals (white, blue or yellow) that stand out against the ocher and muted tones of the field, also producing a more intense smell than spring-flowering species to, in this way, capture the attention of the few insects that prowl looking for food.

Another interesting strategy is to develop organs that allow them to store nutrients and, in this adaptation, tulips, daylilies, hyacinths, garlic and onions are true specialists. These plants are equipped with underground rhizomes, bulbs or tuberobulbs, as well as long, thin and flaccid (open) leaves that allow them to make the most of the sunlight, which is usually dimmer at this time of year, so they can carry out photosynthesis with a total guarantee of survival.

Avoiding the freezing of internal fluids is another challenge to overcome. Autumn-winter flowering plants have narrower phloem vessels so that they occupy less volume, so they can “move” them away from the outer tissue of the stem, thus avoiding direct contact with the outside environment. Other species have chosen to reduce the size of the flowers, minimizing their contact with the environment so that the floral tissues are affected as little as possible by low temperatures. This is the case of the autumn orchid (Spiranthes spiralis), a true botanical jewel that features clusters of tiny flowers shaped like small bells.

An interesting option is the one that shows the picnic area (Colchcium montanum) with its striking basal flowers, at ground level, without a superficial stem, which allows it to save plant tissues and thus optimize its nutritional resources, also avoiding the damaging effects of cold on peduncles and external parts.

In the Mediterranean mountains it is easy to find the popular nun's cushion (Erinacea anthyllis) a legume whose vegetable mass appears padded and small and creeping, which protects its leaves from the wind and generates a microclimate inside that keeps the temperature stable, thus promoting leaf growth and the carrying out of the essential photosynthesis. This fluffy texture is a successful adaptation to protect against frost and cold winds, allowing the plant to thrive in unfavorable conditions for most herbaceous species.

Taking into account that the favorable period for these species is short, the plants are usually evergreen, that is, they have leaves all year round and so they do not have to invest energy in regenerating new ones. But this adaptation has some drawbacks, for example, what to do to avoid night frosts or the cold of the early hours of the morning? Well, many of them have solved it by producing a high concentration of monosaccharides (simpler carbohydrates) in the leaf mass, which makes freezing difficult in perennial parts (those that live all year round).

Evolution squeezes, but it doesn't drown. Thanks to all these adaptations, many plants have managed to become great survivors during unfavorable periods, impossible for the vast majority of species, being incredible survivors, demonstrating to Persephone and Demeter that it is possible to splash colors and smells on ecosystems during winter phenology, and that the cold months, the seasons of decline and darkness of Hades, can be a wonderful time to surprise life, face adversity and be reborn with the amazing force of beauty and tenacity. The flowers that challenged Persephone.