If you pay close attention, there are few red flowers in these parts. Weird, isn’t it? It's all the insects’ fault, because they simply can't see them! Insects, in general, can’t see colors: to them, the world only consists of shades of gray. Blue, yellow, pink and red are all gray, but different shades. The problem with the color red is that at these altitudes insects just don’t see it and therefore are not attracted by flowers of that color, penalizing their reproduction. One of the few plants with red flowers is the Potentilla nepalensis, a plant that comes from the Himalayan mountains and that spreads through lateral branches, called stolons, from which sprout roots that generate new seedlings.
There was a time when our continent looked totally different. Take a look around: imagine looking in every direction and seeing nothing but ice...