Aristea spiralis flower

An Aristea spiralis flower may also have fuzzy tips to the dark markings in the eye of the corolla. The photo was taken near Hermanus during September. Mostly angularly edged on the dark purple markings in the flower eyes, there is some creamy yellow or whitish on the inside of these markings, seen in many other Aristea flower centres.

The dark parts are an addition in A. spiralis though, separating it from the other Aristea species, as this is the only Aristea offering nectar to its pollinators. And they are horseflies no less! Long proboscis fly pollinators suggest tubes that have to be entered for accessing the tantalising nectar. If not so, honeybees could have done the job, and probably sometimes do, the anthers and stigma so openly accessible as on other aristea flowers!

The tepals in picture have a few parallel veins up the middle part of each limb, the lateral vein lines angled up and out. The inner three tepals have slightly more blue than the outer ones.

The paired, yellow-brown oblongs of the three anthers at the stamen tips are quite rectangular. The style is about the same colour as the filaments, the head-like purple stigma appearing flat. The fact that these parts are so close together for easy pollination and so openly, suggests that the nectar may be redundant. How come evolution put it there, and what might be its future? But you can't fool them horseflies (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; iNaturalist)!