There is a flower I enjoy because of the outsized stamens and much smaller petals. The stamens of Caesalpinia gilliesii (Bird of Paradise Shrub) are pretty sculptural. I think it would like hotter temperatures than I can offer bayside here on the California coast. But at least it survives and blooms reliably which I've never been able to do with the showier orange ones, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, commonly called peacock flower or Barbados Pride.
The first three are photos of C.g. I took in my garden in the last few days. The other is an image I found online of C.p.
11
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
5 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.
Interesting, I wonder what is the pollinator of these plants.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Aug 1, 2020
0
Boy you've got me, Jack but it's native to Argentina and Uruguay. Wouldn't you think the point of the long stamens was to brush against whatever nectors at the flower? So maybe a large bird or rodent. But not likely a rodent since the flowers grow pretty high up.
@MarkWD Sounds right. With those stamens even the wind could pollinate the plant.
Redheadedgammy
Level 9
Aug 1, 2020
3
I find that cacti often have the prettiest flowers.
@JackPedigo Yes! I need to find out what this one is called. I noticed the flower is further opening with more color yesterday. Looks like little blue stems coming out in the middle now.
@Redheadedgammy Yes, I can see the purplish emerging stems.
For some reason I really love plants with unusual flowers. This reminds me I have a small cactus on the deck with several small, white, long stemmed flowers. I need to check out my Zucchini and when I return and the sun is at a better angle I will take a picture and add it here.
@JackPedigo I would love to see that!
One of the nicest bromeliads I ever saw. The foliage especially but that flower suits it perfectly.
@MarkWD When I got it, she had put it in a really small pot with just a little dirt so I immediately put it in the big pot it's in now. It didn't look like it would make it at first, but I kept it watered and fertilized it as well. I've never grown one before so this is my first one. I like trying new plants, and am glad this one made it.
@Redheadedgammy Took some pictures but need to use the PC to download them tomorrow.
@MarkWD I have started looking at more pictures of them. There are so many exotic looking ones.
