Early and short post, flower trivia

 Had an early appointment to take care of some things so got out in more wonderful weather. Cool, lighter blue sky and breezy. As a result I got pictures of an early morning garden and a flower wearing a fall hat.

Fancy fall hat for a tropical flower. Almost looks like staghorns but it was just sitting there so perfectly had to get a picture of it. A bee was checking out the sap on the other flowers as I was doing that. One thing about Bird of Paradise is their pollen and nectar system. You look at the flower and wonder where is all the pollen? Where's the pollinators for it?

Well, it's hidden. That purple part is the actual stamen that will only open when pressure is applied to open it up. Bees and hummingbirds aren't going to trigger it so what would actually be able to do that? I originally thought some type of reptile like Geckos. So did my college professor in my plant ID classes. Well, guess again.

This picture was taken at the Zoo or the Wild Animal Park right here in San Diego. That is just a regular finch that is feeding(?) taking one of the stamen filaments. In their native habitat sunbirds and weavers feed on the nectar and in the US and other countries orioles as well as hummingbirds know where the nectary is on the flower.

 Now how that flower got upside down I don't know but I guess it may have been a second one that grew out of the original flower. Hummers know where to find the nectar. So that's a bit of flower trivia that I always wondered about and I'm sure others have as well. 

This is what is missing from a lot of people these days. Curiosity and the drive to find out answers. Decades ago if you wanted to know something, you'd either go to the volumes of encyclopedias that your parents paid good money for or you went to the library. As long as you knew what you were looking for I find it intuitive to just go look it up. Now it's 'google it!' Even now people, grown adults that should know better are running to groups online to ask questions about something that is right at their fingertips! 

Go look it up!