Colchicum circinatum flower protection

The bracts around these two Colchicum circinatum flowers are positioned as if there’s much to hide. They form the outer ring around all the flower parts.

Weather in the plant’s semi-arid, Northern Cape habitat might cause flower damage, but pollinators are clearly welcome to reach the flowers themselves without difficulty. The swollen stamen bases of the flowers secrete the sweet attraction, the nectar.

The anthers form a ring around each flower centre within the slightly wider rings of small tepals or perianth segments. Concentric circles feature in this way in many flower types.

There is one more ring on the inside of the stamens: each locule of the ovary has a style on top that ends in a tiny stigma, forming the innermost ring (Williamson, 2010; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist).