Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Grevillea lanigera--Woolly Grevillea



The Grevillea is in the Proteaceae family, which is known for its dense clusters of bottle brush flowers. This plant does not have those dense clusters, but the flowers still have the basic family anatomy. If you look closely, it seems to have plenty of pistils, but no stamens. Before the flower opens, the anthers deposit pollen onto the stigmas, which then act as pollen presenters. The anthers remain hidden.

This family occurs naturally in Australia, Africa, South America, India and other places mainly in the southern hemisphere.

Some plants in this family have very sticky flowers that trap insects. Maybe that attracts the birds. Maybe the birds are the real pollinators. But nobody knows.

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