Plant of the Day (Passiflora Genus)
I had my final plant biology lab today and we were presented with a flower I hadn't seen in years. A plant that I actually find difficult to believe I ever forgot considering it's one of the most visually jarring and whimsical plants I've ever seen in person, out in the wild.
'Passion flowers' also known in my language of greek as 'clock flowers' because of the radial arrangement of its filaments and styles, is one of the most diverse organism genera across the plant kingdom, likely because of how selective these plants tend to be with their pollinators.
Native to Central and South America, they come from complex ecosystems and have thus developed some pretty interesting defense/evasion mechanisms as a result, such as the dotted ring formed between corona filaments and the operculum. It's generally considered to resemble insect eggs for the purpose of repelling other insects from ovipositing their offsprings onto the plant.
| Passiflora Crimson Tears | Passiflora cincinnata | Passiflora caerulea |
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| Passiflora mollissima | Passiflora biflora | Passiflora alata |
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