Disa cornuta inflorescence

Here is a nice full Disa cornuta inflorescence photographed at night. It is a busy structure, many-flowered with a fair amount of colour variety. The pale flower faces have rusty bonnets and black lips. Green is seen on the bracts, the ovaries and the stalk of the flower spike.

The cylindrical inflorescence tapers to its tip where the buds are still small, to open when the lowermost flowers will already be forming fruits, filling with seeds. In this way the vicissitudes of bloomtime weather that may deliver a mix of favourable and unfavourable periods, can be overcome as far seed production certainty is concerned.

If all goes well, blooming for a protracted period also serves as reward for pollinator partners like carpenter bees who have to identify alternative food sources whenever a floral kitchen closes (Liltved and Johnson, 2012).