I have this flower in my garden. Spotted bun flower…
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I have this flower in my garden. Spotted bun flower.
Latin: Arum maculatum. Its pollination is interesting.
Its inflorescence is surrounded by a bract that flares out at the bottom, which acts as an insect trap. The tip of the body protrudes from the opening of the bract and emits an unpleasant, rotten smell, attracting pollinating insects – mainly carrion flies.
The flies fall from the oily surface of the bract into the calyx of the inflorescence. They remain captive there for a few days until they pollinate the fertile flowers below. The coneflower provides its captives with food and warmth from a high-sugar sap. Their escape is blocked by long, hair-like projections. The stamen flowers located higher up ripen when the hairs wither and make way for the insects, who leave loaded with pollen. If pollination was successful, the scarlet berries of the flower can be seen from afar in the late summer and autumn forest.
Its large, spear-shaped leaves sometimes have brown or purple spots, hence the name maculatum. It is a cruel joke to make someone taste these leaves, as the raphide crystals (calcium oxalate) they contain cause a very strong and slowly passing scratching sensation on the tongue.
It has a large, tuberous rootstock, which is rich in starch. In times of famine, the starch from roasted tubers was washed out and used as food. Roasting was necessary because the sedge is a poisonous plant. Its rootstock and leaves contain little saponin, and its young spring shoots contain a compound similar to hemlock venom. If its fresh sap is applied to human skin, it causes inflammation, and if swallowed, it can cause stomatitis, salivation, dilation of the eyelids, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. The skin-irritating compounds also dilate blood vessels, modify breathing, and affect blood circulation, so they can also be used as medicine. For this reason, the flower was once a medicinal herb, used against suffocation and gout, and the powder of its tuber was drunk in wine.
Source: https://www.dunaipoly.hu/hu/tudasanyag/foltos-kontyvirag
Latin: Arum maculatum. Its pollination is interesting.
Its inflorescence is surrounded by a bract that flares out at the bottom, which acts as an insect trap. The tip of the body protrudes from the opening of the bract and emits an unpleasant, rotten smell, attracting pollinating insects – mainly carrion flies.
The flies fall from the oily surface of the bract into the calyx of the inflorescence. They remain captive there for a few days until they pollinate the fertile flowers below. The coneflower provides its captives with food and warmth from a high-sugar sap. Their escape is blocked by long, hair-like projections. The stamen flowers located higher up ripen when the hairs wither and make way for the insects, who leave loaded with pollen. If pollination was successful, the scarlet berries of the flower can be seen from afar in the late summer and autumn forest.
Its large, spear-shaped leaves sometimes have brown or purple spots, hence the name maculatum. It is a cruel joke to make someone taste these leaves, as the raphide crystals (calcium oxalate) they contain cause a very strong and slowly passing scratching sensation on the tongue.
It has a large, tuberous rootstock, which is rich in starch. In times of famine, the starch from roasted tubers was washed out and used as food. Roasting was necessary because the sedge is a poisonous plant. Its rootstock and leaves contain little saponin, and its young spring shoots contain a compound similar to hemlock venom. If its fresh sap is applied to human skin, it causes inflammation, and if swallowed, it can cause stomatitis, salivation, dilation of the eyelids, heart failure, convulsions, and even death. The skin-irritating compounds also dilate blood vessels, modify breathing, and affect blood circulation, so they can also be used as medicine. For this reason, the flower was once a medicinal herb, used against suffocation and gout, and the powder of its tuber was drunk in wine.
Source: https://www.dunaipoly.hu/hu/tudasanyag/foltos-kontyvirag
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| 6,000 mlx | |
| 15 | |
| 2 |