Colouring the Flower One of the most obvious ways in which
flowers differ from one another is in their colour. This colour
is usually the result of pigment deposition in the petals, but
in some species brightly coloured bracts, sepals or stamens can
provide a similarly striking display. The colour of a flower has
traditionally been viewed as one of the ways in which plants
attract pollinating animals, and there is considerable
literature on the preferences of different pollinators for
different colours. In recent years these data have often been
reinterpreted, with the emphasis more on contrast and search
images, rather than on particular colours as ‘favourites’ of
particular animals. This chapter considers the different
biochemical pathways through which flowers can become coloured.
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