Babiana bainesii young inflorescence

The young Babiana bainesii inflorescence illustrates proceedings of anthesis, the flower opening of the species. The lowermost bud opens first. Its neighbours follow suit in sequence as a group gymnastics display. The emphasis shifts from covering green and brown bracts to blue or mauve tepals.

The slow sequence regulates the distribution of juicy resources to the right places for effective functioning within organism capacity, as well as prolongs the feeding services to pollinators. The vicissitudes of weather are withstood better when different flowers open on different days for ensuring a seed set from at least some of them.

Mother Nature provides for all of this, adapted for the needs of every species, without ever giving it a thought. Evolution that allows for selective survival until reproduction works well enough to establish and regulate the whole thing. How wonderful that such a big, ongoing process can sometimes remain so hard to grasp (Manning, 2009; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; Lowrey and Wright, 1987; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; https://wildflowernursery.co.za).