It has been discovered that the important factor in flowering is the amount of darkness, or night length, that a plant receives. Each plant species has its own specific requirements for darkness, called the critical night length. Although it is now understood that night length, and not day length, regulates flowering, the terms short-day plant and long-day plant are still used. A short-day plant flowers when the days are short and the nights are long. Conversely, a long-day plant flowers when the days are long and the nights are short compared to the requirements of another plant.