#asparagusflowers

[seedkeeping]

Asparagus flowers. Asparagus is dioecious, which means each individual plant is generally either male or female (unlike tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, corn, or really most food plants, which are both male and female at the individual level). But as with most things, including sex, it is more complicated. Asparagus flowers start out with both male and female parts, but in male flowers, stamens will outgrow and block the ovaries, and in female flowers, the stamens stop developing and collapse. Aren't they beautiful? The honeybees love their nectar and pollen. Magnified x10 by my loupe. #asparagusflowers #asparagusofficinalis #dioecious #plantsex (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)

[niagara-heartly]

アスパラガスの花。普段食べているアスパラガスを収穫せず放ったらかしにしておくと、やがてこんな花が咲きます。 そもそもアスパラガスは野菜としてではなく、鑑賞用として江戸時代にオランダから日本に伝わったようです。 Flower of asparagus. A bud of asparagus that we normally eat. If you leave it without harvesting, these flowers will bloom soon. Originally asparagus seems to have been transmitted from the Netherlands to Japan in the Edo period for appreciate rather than as vegetables. -・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・- #AsparagusFlower #Asparagus #AsparagusSpp #VegetableFlowers #Flower #Vegetables #RainySeason #June #アスパラガスの花 #アスパラガス #野菜の花 #花 #野菜 #梅雨

[seedkeeping]

A Japanese Beetle “robs” nectar from an Asparagus flower. Flowers that produce nectar and pollen rely on insects and other critters to come through the flower opening, drawn by the sweet and nourishing nectar. They would then brush up against the flower’s reproductive parts, taking and leaving pollen, ensuring the survival and genetic diversity of the plant species. This beetle has too short a proboscis for this flower, so it instead chews through the base, sidestepping pollination, and drinking the nectar with little if any benefit to the plant. One way this could benefit the plant is if the robber leaves the reproductive parts in tact and frustrated future pollinators fly away thirsty, yet covered in pollen, looking to drink from (and therefore pollinate) more flowers. However, many pollinators can tell when the flower has been sucked dry and will avoid it all together. But who are we to call it “nectar robbing”? If you are eating right now, you’ve likely robbed a bit of nectar or potential nectar yourself. 🥦🥕🥗 #nectarrobbing #japanesebeetle #asparagusflowers