Cryin' Out Loud, I missed the "C" posting / "D" to Darwin

I love opening this kind of email at work: Darwin's Orchid in bloom today.

Our Angraecum sesquipidale has bloomed today for the first time.

This is the orchid with an extremely long nectar spur for which Charles Darwin postulated there must be a long tongued moth in order to pollinate but whose existence had never been verified.  The moth - Xanthopan morgani praedicta – was discovered some 40 years later, thus confirming Darwin’s hypothesis.

For scale purposes, this clay pot is about 12" in diameter. The  "throat" of this orchid is about 10" long. The moth hovers about hauling it's similarly lengthy tongue (which is rolled up) and uncurls all of it to sip the nectar. See it in the picture beside the orchid?  By the way, there's nothing like the sweet scent  of orchids blooming  in a February greenhouse.

Maybe some of you caught this program when it was on TV a couple years ago. I did and found it fascinating to see it in person. A couple of years ago the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology's Greenhouse attracted botany lovers in droves when their Corpse Flower came into bloom. http://advance.uconn.edu/2004/040719/04071903.htm

It's nice having this greenhouse right next door to my building. Wacky Fun In Connecticut!

It was hard getting a decent shot of this pattern. I still have the other sock to go but the Noro scarf is hogging what little knitting time I have lately.

Comments

[Manise]

Thanks for the Springy photos and the interesting post! Lucky you to have that greenhouse close by to visit. Definitely a plus during the winer doldrums!