Leptosema chambersii
What happens if you are a small plant that is pollinated by birds or mammals rather than insects, but you have no branches for the animal to land on to access your flowers? Grow your flowers next to the ground so that they are easier to get to! Leptosema is a small genus of pea flowers native to semi-arid Australia that have done exactly this. Each small straggly plant produces bright red flowers around its base (red is more attractive to vertebrates than insects) where they are within easy reach of any animal on the ground. Flowers produce a rich nectar reward that is attractive to mammals and birds, and have been turned upside down so that as an animal pushes forward into the nectary it receives a brushing of pollen on the top of the head. This is subsequently transferred to the female parts (stigma - large curved rod structure seen here) of the next flower it visits. The tall narrow flowers inspired the name lepto (slender) sema (banner) from the Greek. Interestingly it appears that shifting from insect to bird pollination has evolutionary consequences, with reduced species diversity and potentially greater extinction risk: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/14/43 Arid growing conditions have also led to the loss of true leaves (leaves loose water easily) in these species, and the development of flattened stems which hold chloroplasts and photosynthesize instead. Photo: R.D. Edwards
1 Comment
Bobbie
10/2/2017 06:43:08 am
Fantastic intro to Leptosema chambersii! Thank you, I haven't been able to find information anywhere else about the physiological attributes of these plants!
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