Pink Lilium brightens the week

This pink Oriental Lilium - "Stargazer" - (as far as I can recall) is a lovely plant, which has arrived in time to brighten the otherwise dull week.

Oriental Lilium - Stargazer - in situ

Here it is in close-up.

Oriental Lilium - Stargazer

A zoomed image of the Lilium's stamens and the stigma

The stigma (the female receptive organ) and the stamens

Source: Enchanted Learning

Botanical illustration from "EnchantedLearning.com"

Not everybody understands how plants are pollinated, and Liliums are one of the most "obvious" models to understand. Bees transfer pollen to the female part of the flower, the "stigma" which is the prominent white organ which protrudes in the front of all other parts of the Lilium flower. It is sticky, which aids in its receptive function.

• "Stamens are the male reproductive parts of flowers. A stamen consists of an anther (which produces pollen) and a filament. The pollen consists of the male reproductive cells; they fertilize ovules."   
• "The pistil is the collective term for the carpel(s). Each carpel includes an ovary (where the ovules are produced; ovules are the female reproductive cells, the eggs), a style (a tube on top of the ovary), and a stigma (which receives the pollen during fertilization)."  
• Source: Enchanted Learning

The next step is the part least understood - which is that the pollen grains actually grow down through the style, below the stigma, into the ovary which is at the lower end of the tube. That is where fertilization occurs - inside the ovary of the flower.


A close-up view of the Lilium anther - the pollen-bearing (male) part of the flower.

The pollen grains on the Lilium stamen.

There is an interesting point on the timing of flowering of this plant. Virtually all the other plants in my garden which I photograph, and certainly the Orchids I have photographed this year, have been late in flowering this year. Not so this Lilium. I photographed it last year on 17 January 2010. This year, it opened on 15 January 2011. That's pretty reliable.

Many plants flower in accordance with the length of the day, not the rain or temperature. I suggest that this Lilium takes its cue by the length of the day, and so its flowering time is reliable in each season. 

By contrast, there is a saying in relation to many Orchids that they will flower (within their normal season) six weeks after "good rain". There are many "variables" in that statement, but I shall illustrate the variable flowering seasons in an Orchid tomorrow.

Lilium stamens and a Sword-grass Brown Butterfly

I promised to show images of the freshly opened pollen from the stamens of the Oriental Liliums out the front of my house.
This is the same flower as I photographed several days ago. It has developed a pink blush as the flower ages.
These stamens of a neighbouring hot-pink Oriental Lilium are more mature, and at the point which anyone who has ever had Liliums as cut-flowers in the house will know, these stamens drop their pollen with stains clothing and table-cloths very strongly, in much the same way as Saffron does. Hardly surprising - the stain comes from pollen released from strongly coloured stamens - one from these Lilies, the other from a Crocus.

For a technical discussion of pollination of Lilium flowers click here
For a clear image of the female part of the Lilium flower click here

In the case of the pink Lilium and the white (pale pink one)
the "stigmas" (the receptive tips of the female part of the two flowers)
are different colours in the two flowers. (see above images).
One is white, the other dark pinkish grey.
I have no idea why there is such a strong colour difference
between closely related plants - both varieties of the same species.

This is what the full flower head looks like.

Now this is a different Butterfly from any which I get in my yard.
It was trapped inside a friend's window today.
I am familiar with this Butterfly, the Sword-grass Brown Butterfly
as I have seen it locally at Carrington Falls and Manning's Lookout.
This Butterfly is typically found in moist Sandstone country.

Today, this Butterfly was released gently outside by my friend's daughter, who gently cupped her hands around the butterfly, and took it outside and released it. She then stood there in a moment of satisfied awe, and watched the liberated Butterfly fly safely away.
A lovely moment - the gift of freedom.
A memory of an impromptu gentle gesture which I shall treasure.