Most flowering plants contain both male and female parts in their alluring and colorful blooms. But some plants undergo a remarkable sex change in a matter of weeks. Plant that change sex. Meanwhile, some plants don't rely on animal pollinators.
Many desert plants use the wind instead.
But there's a desert shrub that's solved this problem in a remarkable way. Within a population of the shrub, known as Zuckia brandegei, half the plants open with male flowers first, and half open with female flowers first. Then a few weeks later, they switch. Male and female flowers shrivel up, and a new flower of the opposite sex emerges. But these aren't the only plants that produce male and female flowers at separate times.