Hermannia trifurca textures and colours

The bell-shaped Hermannia trifurca flower has at least as much, possibly more colour on the outside of its corolla than on the inside. This is an appropriate feature in nodding flowers for marketing food to pollinators.

At the stem-tip in picture new growth is subtended by the leaf or bract at each node, initially in what appears to be a protective mode. Those plants adhering to an ostensibly caring posture over sufficiently many generations may fare better in reproduction; the feature established in the evolution of plant appearance.

Humans fond of deriving principles from observed phenomena may appreciate this lesson about caring to be so basic, requiring no brains. Talking points about matters evolutionary tend to take longer than picking a sports team. The bud in picture resembles a green rugby ball, just the kind of analogy one might expect when a World Cup event for the sport is imminent, this time in Japan. The green suggests the Springboks for a win, or maybe Ireland (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; iNaturalist).