Flower Facts for Kids: Expensive, Edible and Endearing Plants
Flowers are amazing plants, and not least because they’re so intricate, varied and beautiful. In addition to their visual elegance, though, flowers also hold a number of interesting secrets in their history and biology. Here’s a cultivated collection of interesting facts about flowers specifically for kids.
Flowers Weren’t Always Around
While it’s hard to imagine a world without the beauty of flowers, there once was a time when they didn’t exist. Evolutionary biology tells us that cone-bearing trees, such as evergreens with pinecones, and ferns were likely some of the first plants to grow. Flowers came into existence as these plants evolved.
Flowers Are Sometimes Extremely Valuable
There are some instances where flowers get to be extremely valuable. The most notable such time was in Holland during the 1700s. Tulip Mania took over the country, and tulips were worth more than the price of gold.
Many Flowers Can Be Eaten
While you should never eat a plant unless you can positively identify it and know it’s safe (or have an adult do so), many flowers are edible. The sunflower is one of the most commonly consumed flowers today, as many people are familiar with eating its seed. This is hardly the only flower you can eat, though. The petals of all the following flowers can be chomped on:
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Hibiscus
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Lavender
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Pansies
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Roses
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Sage
Many of these are used to make teas or to accent salads, where they add slight flavor and lots of colour.
Lots of Fruits and Vegetables Are Initially Flowers
In addition to eating flower petals, lots of fruits and vegetables that people eat on a daily basis start out as flowers. For instance, there are:
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Apple blossoms
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Orange blossoms
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Zucchini blossoms
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Pumpkin blossoms
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Tomato blossoms
Even broccoli and artichokes are actually flowers. With these vegetables, the plant is harvested before a blossom forms and people eat the foliage.
Dandelions Used to Be Frequently Eaten
Now largely disregarded as a weed, the dandelion is technically a flower since it has a blossom. Moreover, it used to be widely used in recipes. Before fresh produce was readily available at grocery stores, many people cooked dandelion greens on a regular basis. Older cookbooks can still be found with lots of dandelion soup and salad recipes.
People Used to Date with Flowers
Back in Victorian England, during the 1700s, flowers were assigned detailed meanings. They conveyed all sorts of meanings, and even how you gave flowers to someone could communicate something. Hand flowers with the right hand to say “yes” and the left hand for “no.” Giving them upside down is like opposite day, telling the recipient the opposite of whatever the flowers mean.
In a culture where flirting was highly discouraged, flowers’ meanings served as the perfect way to communicate feelings with a special someone. They played a prominent role in courtship, and you can still read novels from the era that reference couples giving each other flowers to send messages.
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