Scientists have suggested that plants may arrange their flowers to maximise their chances of reproduction by taking advantage of how pollinating insects move between them.

This latest in a series of discoveries, which shows just how active a role plants play in their own survival, could also inform the development of crops with high yields, by enabling scientists to understand how plants can transfer pollen most efficiently.

It’s still early days for the hypothesis put forward by researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Calgary, Canada - that plants evolved the positioning of their flowers over time to take maximum advantage of pollinators - but an initial study has shown that the patterns in which plants’ flowers are arranged affects the flight patterns of foraging bees.

The international team of scientists already knew that variation in shape, size and colour of individual flowers can influence how their pollen is spread by visiting insects or birds. They studied the flights of bumble bees as they collected nectar from wild tall larkspur flowers in Alberta, Canada  and found that when the plants' flowers were present on only one side of the stem, bees would more often fly vertically between flowers. By comparison, when a plant had flowers all around its stem, bees would be less likely to fly upwards.

The results appear to have borne out their theory, and may also help explain why about half of all flowering plants produce flowers that can have female or male characteristics at different times. These arrangements may also maximise the plants' chances of reproduction.

Dr Crispin Jordan, a Biological Scientist from Edinburgh University who led the study, said, "Plants and their flowers exist in all shapes and sizes, and our finding that the arrangement of flowers can influence how bees forage might go some way to explaining how plants, which rely on others species to spread pollen, can influence their own reproduction."