= Flowering
<Flowering> is the transition to producing <flowers>, the reproductive structures of <angiosperms>. A <meristem> that previously produced vegetative <organs> begins a developmental program forming <flowers>. This transition can precede the visible opening of a <flower>, called <anthesis>, by a substantial interval.
<Photoperiodism> links <flowering> to seasonal day length. In <Arabidopsis thaliana>, the timing of <CONSTANS> <gene expression> and the stabilization of its <protein> by evening <light> allow long days to promote <flowering>. Experiments measuring <CONSTANS> abundance showed that a daily rhythm in <messenger RNA> alone did not explain the response: <light>-dependent <protein degradation> supplied another regulatory step.<Photoreceptor regulation of CONSTANS protein in photoperiodic flowering by Federico Valverde and others>[Science 303, pp. 1003–1006; daily CONSTANS protein stability and long-day flowering]{ref} Different <plants> integrate different combinations of day length, <temperature> and developmental state; <flowering> is not triggered by one universal environmental threshold.
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