Emerston Group

Now THIS is a type of oil NO ONE wants to see disappear.

Worst drought ‘in living memory’ threatens the world’s olive oil supply Europe’s olive farmers are fearing that record temperatures and a lack of rainfall this summer will slash their harvests. Olive oil prices are likely to rise.

How one defines/perceives 'Success' and 'Failure' will often determine their 'Quality of Life'.

And the 'Quality of Lives' of people around them.

"The Perks of Being a Sunflower."

Sunflowers are in the news.

So here are some pretty cool traits of sunflowers...and good reminders of how much goes on in nature, without any human awareness.

"What we commonly consider a single sunflower is actually a cluster of flowers, referred to as an inflorescence. All wild sunflowers, of which there are about 50 species in North America, have very similar inflorescences. To our eyes, their ligules (the enlarged, fused petals of the outermost whorl of florets in the sunflower inflorescence) are the same uniform, familiar bright yellow.

However, when looked at in the UV spectrum (that is, beyond the type of light that our eyes can see), things are quite different. Sunflowers accumulate UV-absorbing pigments at the base of the ligules. Across the whole inflorescence, this results in a UV bullseye pattern."

The secret ultraviolet colours of sunflowers attract pollinators and preserve water Sunflowers have hidden patterns of ultraviolet colours — visible to pollinators, these colours are due to the presence of pigments that also help plants retain moisture.