Requested AnonymouslyCherrim is a unique pokémon, who changes form depending on the weather.

Requested Anonymously

Cherrim is a unique pokémon, who changes form depending on the weather. Most of the time, Cherrim keeps its flower closed, hiding beneath its tightly folded purple petals. In strong sunlight however, Cherrim blooms, opening up and becoming a beautiful pink flower.

This type of behavior, a flower opening or closing its petals or leaves in response to sunlight, is called nyctinasty.There are plenty of nyctinastic flowers in our world, including tulips, the common daisy, magnolias, crocuses, and water lilies, which all share this common trait of folding up during the night, and blooming during the day.

Nyctinastic plants, like Cherrim, contain specialized pigments which sense and absorb light. You’ve probably heard of chlorophyll, a pigment that all plants have, that helps plants photosynthesize and absorb energy from sunlight. Nyctinastic plants additionally have a pigment called phytochromes, which detects red light specifically, allowing the plant to “see” when more red light is in the sky - typically near sunrise or sunset.

The interesting part is that many of these flowers will settle into a regular schedule, opening even on overcast days when the sun is out, or closing even when kept in a bright room at night. This leads scientists to believe that nyctinastic plants have a circadian rhythm, an internal clock, similar to the human’s sleep cycle. Just like when a human’s body tells them they need sleep every night, these plants can sense when it’s time to fold or open on schedule.

Scientists aren’t really sure why nyctinastic plants do their thing, but there are several strong theories. Pollen, the way that plants reproduce, loses its viability if it gets too wet, so it’s possible that these plants curl up to keep their pollen safe and dry, away from cold temperatures and morning dew. During the day, water evaporates easily in the sunlight, and bees are awake to spread the pollen around.

This doesn’t apply to every flower though. Moonflowers (pictured below) are an unusual type of nyctinastic flower which blooms during the night, and closes during the day. It likes the cooler temperatures, and scientists think that it does this to help gather water, instead of keep it away - the moonflower’s open petals collect dewdrops at night, and it curls up during the day to prevent the water from evaporating, so it can trickle down its stem and feed its roots.

Even though they why still may be a mystery, nyctinastic plants are very cool. Their ability to open and close their petals, and even sense the passing of time, reveals that plants are more complex than most people know.