365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Pink Elephants
Day 310: I thought I was going to have to buy a gallon of cheap wine in order to see pink elephants this year, but thanks to my botany partners Joe and Sharon, I found where they were hiding. Yes, this is the Elephant-head Pedicularis I mentioned a few days ago. It tends to bloom earlier than most of the other Pedicularis species. Take a close look at the individual flowers on the spike. The elephants' trunks are obvious, but do you see the floppy ears as well?
Interestingly enough, these plants are uniquely adapted to pollination by bumblebees, but not in the manner you might expect. The reproductive structures of this Pedicularis are hidden too deeply for a fat bumblebee to reach. In lieu of picking up pollen grains by contact, the bees hover near the flower and the vibrations of their wings causes the pollen to dislodge. Presumably, it is deposited by a similar mechanism as the bees progress from flower to flower.
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