If the flowers in the bouquet you just received look a little past their prime, ethylene may be the culprit. The hormone makes flowers such as orchids, petunias, and carnations wilt and lose their petals, a process known as abscission. Sometimes ethylene prevents buds from opening.rn"For many flowers, ethylene is a like a vandal," says David Clark, a flower geneticist at the University of Florida. "It comes in like a graffitirnartist, it marks its place, and then it's gone."
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