What are nectar and nectaries? The role in a coevolution between certain plants and animals.

Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, visible as tiny droplets either inside the flower or on other parts of a plant, depending on the species. Nearly 75% of all worldwide crops are dependent on animals to achieve efficient pollination and nectar plays a major role in this.

Nectaries are glandular plant tissue that exudes nectar and can be either structural or non-structural, floral or extrafloral. The major role of floral nectaries and nectar they produce is to attract pollinating animals, and sometimes to defend the plant from microbes and fungi. Defense from herbivores, on the other hand, is the primary role of extrafloral nectaries. They manipulate certain species of wasps and ants, in particular, into defending the plant in exchange for a food reward.

In addition to being directly consumed as food, nectar is also the raw material used by honeybees to produce honey.

nectar,nectaries,what is nectar,what are nectaries,plants,flowers,plant,flower,pollinators,pollinator,honeybees,bees,honey,hummingbirds,extrafloral nectaries,floral nectaries,cross-pollination,nectary,coevolution,pollination efficiency,nicotiana attenuata,coyote tobacco,benzyl acetone,chemical structure of nectar,pseudomyrmex ferrugineus,stomata in plants,trichomes,sand wasp,ammophila wasp,flower garden,plant taxonomy,thread-waisted wasp,sugar content,nectarin,