Orchids: November Orchid Blooms Make Us Thankful, 1 by MaypopLaurel

MaypopLaurel wrote:
A close up. This one just bloomed a few months ago.

About Jim's spidery looking Brassia; people find this flower's shape intriguing. What is more intriguing though is why it is shaped that way. It has evolved this fascinating spider shape because its pollinator is a type of hunter wasp. The hunter wasp grabs its spider prey and repeatedly stings the victim, then drags the paralyzed spider off to its lair to feed its young. The Brassia's shape mimics a spider to attract the hunter wasp. When the wasp grabs the flower and starts stinging the flower its head is buried in the flower so that the pollinia stick to the top of its head. When it moves away, after its unsuccessful experience. to the next "spider" with the pollinia attached to its head it then pollinates the next one and so on. Orchids are often the subject of scientific study because many have evolved to resemble either the mate or the prey of their pollinators. This is known as entomophily.

There will be a test on this next week

This message was edited Nov 22, 2011 11:02 PM