Heliophila collina flowering stages

Different stages of Heliophila collina blooming are in evidence here:

Compact, ellipsoid brown buds promise something to hungry visitors that will hopefully appear tomorrow or in a few days.

Guests arriving today will recognise the inviting white petals and plan landings carefully on the flimsy structures offered by the delicate annual plants. So little leaf surface on a plant cannot be expected to photosynthesise sufficiently for supporting the construction of sturdier airports… all have to live within their means. Ants and other earthbound contributors might climb up; hard work here even for the notably diligent, especially on windy days.

The foremost brains of insect world might be reminded by the now faded and furled, blue-purple floral remains of eating places where the feasts of several yesterdays had taken place. The Einsteins among them might one day even recognise the patterns in their own behaviour and form theories of habit formation that bring them here in season and elsewhere when different flower species open. That is, if evolving a better brain in insects might be prompted by prevailing environmental conditions in the future, or might become a proposition after the departure of humanity (Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).