what bad thing is going to happen at night, that they feel the need to expend the energy
David Attenborough is your friend:
You saw this post, didn’t you op?
(This one was literally right under that one on my feed)
I did try googling this first.
Surface area is evaporative exposure and frost exposure, might not matter much to temperate acclimated plants but it may be an evolutionary holdover. Also plants don’t really expend energy to modulate their bodies. It’s more about moving water around their internals.
Moving may also prevent some fungus or algae colonization.
I want to be clear that I’m not arguing with you, but when you talk about moisture evaporation it’s kind of funny because the water lilies are sitting in a lake lol
Yes but they still have interior and exterior moisture, and evolved from plants that weren’t always in a lake. And I suppose occasionally grow in temporary bodies of water.
