How plants control their flowering? 
Researchers at the Ume? Plant Science Centre in SLU, the Swedish University of Living Natural Resources, report a great breakthrough in understanding how plants regulate their blooming. In an article published in the prestigious international magazine Science the researchers demonstrate how a small molecule born in a plant’s leaves can be transported to the top of growing sprouts where it initiates the formation of flower buds. This knowledge may result in new opportunities to control the time when plants are in bloom, a possibility of great value for both agriculture and forestry.
This knowledge offers plant breeders totally new opportunities to control and to adjust plants’ flowering periods. This is of great importance for agriculture and it may become a very important factor also in respect of more effective tree improvement, says professor Ove Nilsson.