crisscrossing Science Episode 038: Flowering Inferno

In this episode, Chris Gaiser (professor of biology at Linfield College) and Mike Crosser (professor of physics at Linfield College) talk about some of the evolutionary steps that were needed to make so-called angiosperm plants, which are now by far the most common plant type in the world. Angiosperms are plants that have flowers and produce some sort of fruit, both of which greatly enhance a plant's ability to reproduce. Flowers entice insects to help pollinate the plants. Fruit entices animals to help spread the seeds. Therefore, angiosperms are not completely reliant on wind to reproduce.