I hope that you’re not sick of lotus flowers yet, because I just can’t resist posting two more photos. The first one was taken Friday, July 27, 2007 on the first day that this flower was in bloom. Note the rich pink color of the petals and the wonderful polka dot look of the stigmas on the pistil. The stamens are the curled, creamy colored frill around the pistil.
I must admit that this is undoubtedly the most beautiful photo that I have taken all year!
Fast forward to Sunday, July 29. Just a few days later and the petals have turned almost completely white, and the stamens have grown into the stigmas for pollination. Amazing!
3 comments:
I'm amazed at your lotus. They're my very favorite flower I look for whenever I go to the Denver Botanic Gardens or Hudson Gardens. I love their "showerhead" seedpods! Great photos.
This post is very interesting. How do the stamens grow into the stigmas? Do they just bend?
Aiyana
Thank you for your comments, and please forgive my lack of attention---see above!
Lotus flowers certainly ARE special, and it would be fun to do some research on their self-fertilizing technique. I noticed that the bees were active around these flowers, so they are probably a means of pollination too.
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