As children we used to pick a buttercup and hold it under each others chins to see if we liked butter, if a yellow glow appeared then it was said that you were indeed fond of butter. In reality every chin the little flowers were thrust under glowed yellow as the intense yellow of the pigments shine bright to attract insects which home in on the little yellow beacons and aid their pollination.
Buttercups are a member of the Ranunculus family. The bright yellow colour of a buttercup comes from the yellow pigments that are in the surface layer of the petals. The shiny, glossy look is caused by layers of air just beneath the surface which reflect the sunlight like a mirror.
May is a good time of year to find large quantities of these bright little flowers as it grows well when the sun is high and warm. On colder days the flowers can turn to follow the sun with the flowers being dish shape to collect energy from the sun which warms up the flower which in turn helps to attract more insects. The dish shape also focuses the light to the centre of the flower to help with the ripening of its pollen.
BUTTERCUPS
One of the fields i walked through today was carpeted in these gorgeous little flowers and i thought it only fitting that i did a little research and give them a dedicated page. Having looked into these plants online the fact about them facing the sun to gain warmth from the sunlight made me think to the positioning of the flowers i walked through, and they were all in parts of the field that had sunlight for best part of, if not all of, the day.
