Orchids, Lilies and Bells

Nature never ceases to amaze me. This feeling was particularly strong at the US Botanic garden. There I was reminded once again of the creativity of plants in attracting attention.

I was amazed by how many ways flowers have of twisting their petals so that they may take up more space without using any extra materials;

by how closely they can pack their flowers together so that they may appear much bigger than they individually are;

by how they can even turn themselves into brightly colored brushes.

I was also surprised by how they can pile their petals into layers and how they make visits by insects easy by providing comfortable support for their legs;

by how they can spread out their petals as if they were wings;

how they can space themselves out so that each may get a bigger chance of being noticed.

I was surprised too by the delicacy of their petals;

by how with a few minor changes here and there in either form or color, they manage to distinguish themselves from other similar types of flowers;

by how long they can extend their stamens to make them literally stand out;

by how they would allow some flowers to bloom earlier than others so that their collective flowering times may be prolonged;

by how some of them may prolong the life of their flowers by waxing their surface.

and by how they manage to attract attention by the use of contrasts.

I was surprised by how they manage somehow to allow some space for each flower to display their charm though crowded tightly together;

by how even cacti growing in deserts may produce flowers to propagate themselves like this Christmas Lily (Omithogalum thyroides).

by how they attract attention to their stamen through added color contrasts close to their stamens;

by how they can change colors at different stages of their growth;

by how they would encourage exploration by visiting insects through turning themselves into elongated bells so that once inside, the insects cannot but reach their stamens, like these temple bells (Smithiantha cinnabarin);

by how they know how to make use of different kinds of color at the tips of their bells to attract attention. These use orange and lines.




These use red against a background of white.





These make use of pink and yellow

These make their stamens stand out by giving them a white background.

This cactus flower make sure that it is pollinated by producing little feathers to trap the pollen of its enormous flower! Cactus are not always merely prickly!