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Flower colour: Gloger's rule isn't just for the birds

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A 180-year-old ‘law’ in zoology has found its best support so far in a study of floral colour, which not only documents darker plants growing closer to the equator, but also supports the idea that the colour stems from ultraviolet protection.

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Figure 1: Argentina anserine flowers showing enlarged UV bullseyes at lower latitudes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Innes C. Cuthill is at the School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.,

    Innes C. Cuthill

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  1. Innes C. Cuthill
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Correspondence to Innes C. Cuthill.

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Cuthill, I. Flower colour: Gloger's rule isn't just for the birds. Nature Plants 1, 14013 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2014.13

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