Anemone in Blue

anemone in blue 057.jpg

The Spikey mound is a mass of pistils, each one a complete female reproductive unit. The fine hairy surface on top is the stigma, a velcro-like pollen grain trap.

Erect filaments surround the mound in rows, each with a dark shiny anther on top. They split open as battalions of pollen grains spill out. Each tiny pollen grain is a functioning male organism with a long impregnating tool. It transfers DNA to the first egg it encounters.

Nature works wonders with a single colour, fine detail and lazy brush strokes. Sometimes that is all you need to see.

This fossil preserved in amber looks a bit like anemone coronaria. It was trapped 99 million years ago during the Cretaceous. Winged insects probably pollinated it.

The sudden appearance of flowering plants with a complex crown structure apparently caused Charles Darwin no end of consternation.

References.

First flowering plants.

Previous
Previous

Paku on the Coromandel