Disa cooperi old flower spike

    Disa cooperi old flower spike
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Judd Kirkel Welwitch

    In this old Disa cooperi inflorescence the lower flowers have withered, the top ones finally getting their turn. Their spurs have fully elongated, protruding above the inflorescence, making it now its tallest. All the lower spurs of flowers in the spike point inwards to the stalk at this stage.

    The tips of the bracts below the uppermost flowers are not quite under the ovaries. Those visible in picture are thread-like, protruding about as far as their corolla cups.

    The only potential pollinator in sight appears to be a fly, about halfway down on the right (Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).

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