Leucospermum cordifolium budding styles nearly breaking free

The wiry, orange styles of the nearly open Leucospermum cordifolium flowerhead all bulge outwards in concerted action, nearly at the same rate. Differences are governed by minutely graded increments in the group, emphasising coordinated action in the head as one whole.

The styles are destined to stand much taller than the perianths ever could in their heyday, which was when their ranks were still closed earlier in bud. As the styles elongate, the perianths cannot keep up with the length of the styles inside them any longer. They burst open on the side, lose their grip and collapse in the flowerhead base, while the styles remain standing alone. 

As the perianths burst open along the outer seams of their four hairy segments, each perianth tip holds on tightly until its pollen is ripe. The inside tip surfaces of the perianth segments house the anthers. When the styles break free, their cylindrical tips first act as pollen presenters, having received their own flowers' pollen from the anthers that lay against them, ripened there. Later, when their pollen presenter roles have been fulfilled and the pollen they offered has been taken, the style tips become truly female in function. Their stigmas now wait for pollen from other florets of their species, the male component. Styles form the fully developed pincushion. They are meant to be touched by pollinators seeking food.

Incoming food-seeking traffic, mostly insects and birds, oblige often enough in sustaining the extant Proteaceae species, uploading pollen from presenters of different shapes and sizes, for later offloading on stigmas of the same species, here L. cordifolium. Reconnoitring more florets continues as long as the visitors remain hungry.

A little later, pollen from other florets of the same species may be brought to waiting, ripe stigmas by similar transport. Pollinator meals are busy affairs. Pollen presenters turned stigmas are then duly pollinated in turn, following their dutiful stints as pollen presenters. Fruiting follows next in the ovaries below, unless something goes wrong. Millions of repetitions of the same story ensure seed set, sufficient for species survival. Until it doesn't, and the species becomes extinct.

Timing is understandably key in procreative matters, urgency not far behind (Manning, 2007; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist).