TPP has been in South Florida for one more look around before the area submerges. Both McKee (Vero Beach) and Fairchild (Coral Gables) are botanical gardens worth visiting. But be warned traffic sucks in the entire Miami area. As the climate there is subtropical, they can grow things we can't. It had been quite awhile since TPP has seen this tree in flower. It's pretty spectacular (= fabulous) with dozens of inflorescences emerging from its massive trunk to produce these rather amazing-looking flowers. This is the nearly legendary cannonball tree, a reference to the fruits that quite resemble cannonballs. Couroupita guianensis flowers almost look as though a sea anemone has taken up residence in the flower. A ring of numerous, small anthers located around the pistil (note upper right where perianth and androecium have fallen off) produce fertile pollen, while this hood-like structure bears big anthers that make sterile pollen (a reward for bee pollinators). The flowers are strongly scented at night and early in the day.
2 comments:
Thank you for pointing out the fertile and sterile stamens in this flower- that is really neat!
I agree that Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is a gem; now you have piqued my interest in seeing McKee Botanical Garden.
TPP remembers how puzzled he was when he first saw this flower. This tree was at Fairchild.
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