As if Stapeliads weren't fascinating enough, Stapeliopsis pillansii (from the Eastern Cape, South Africa) raises the bar by flowering under the ground. I had to pull the plant out of the ground to expose the flower bud. The brown section of the plant was under the ground, and the green part was exposed to the sun. I have no idea what the pollinator could be.
Martin
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Stapeliopsis pillansii - flowering under ground
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Stapeliopsis pillansii - flowering under ground
Last edited by Martin_Heigan on Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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To the best of my knowledge, they always flower under ground. You can actually see that the flower makes no attempt to turn upwards, and grows directly down like roots. It will be very interesting to know how it is pollinated, but I am sure that smell also plays a role. From the size of the flower, one can deduct that the pollinator must be tiny.
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Last edited by Martin_Heigan on Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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