Cups & Saucers
The five glossy yellow petals of the buttercup, so often reflected under a child’s chin, have evolved not to signal a liking for butter but, to insects, the presence of nectar secreted at their bases. They are held in a calyx of five green hairy sepals, and for most of the buttercup’s relatives in the Ranunculaceae family, these sepals contribute to the showiness of the flower. The welcome longevity of a hellebore bloom is down to its persistent sepals. The petals make up those enchanting ruffles in the fresh flowers, which are then shed.
Aquilegia flowers have an equally intriguing structure with brightly coloured sepals, again five of them, alternating with petals that are shaped like elongated hats and form the
