Flowerfriday: I'll follow the sun
I bought this Aloinopsis 10 days ago and was waiting eagerly to see a flower. Then it dawned on me that perhaps the spot I had put it in wasn't sunny enough: Mesemb flowers only open at certain times of the day, and never if the light conditions aren't to their liking. This family of plants are classified as Mesembryanthemum, a name derived from Greek, meaning Noon flower. Never mind that some of them only flower at night, although this wasn't known at the time that the name was coined.
The advantage to doing this is that sun, dew, frost, wind or predators may damage the flower's exposed reproductive organs and closing protects flowers at times when they are are unlikely to attract pollinators. Mesemb flowers are great favourites of the tiny solitary bees although the night-opening flowers are pollinated by moths and have a stronger scent.
I moved both the Aloinopsis and the Titanopsis and both of them rewarded me with an open flower today. I have been taking pictures of the progress of the Titanopsis flower since I first saw the bud six weeks ago and this one alerted me to the fact that there wasn't enough light for the flower to open.
The bud, early in May
Yesterday: close, but no cigar
Today: finally! More sun please!
How lovely!
In the photo № 2 I would never have guessed that this bud!
If it were not for the subsequent photos and your explanation!
Simply super!
Flowers are gentle and this tenderness is further emphasized by the leaves.
Even though the plant per se looks tought, the flower is really delicate!
The plants are also quite delicate, it is amazing that they survive in the environments that they come from
Those flowers are so pretty! Good you got the one with a bud.
I really like these bicolour flowers. The stripe is faint on the Titanopsis but much more definite on the Aloinopsis
I find it incredible that some types only flower at night. Such a pretty yellow flower, the plant itself almost looks like a type of coral, so unusual.
They are distinctly marine in form although the colloquial name for the bottom one is sheep's tongue
I am very happy that your efforts have been rewarded.
Care and patience do wonders.
Greetings @nikv and may the sun continue between your plants.
For now, I only have rain and cold.
I hope the weather improves. We are also in winter and today was pleasant although yesterday was damn cold
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Oh wow! Pretty interesting to see the bud progress into a beautiful bloom! Worth the wait and the sunshine :)
They are very interesting flowers. They are similar to our Collets.
That is cool to see the how the bud grew and bloom.
I like the fact that the bud also has the same little bumps as the leaves
Yes, it was tricky at the beginning when the bud first appeared. It looked so much like the leaves with the bumps
Clear cut and marvellous photography. The image looks very precious and rare. Unique type of flower. Love the way sunflower is coming up through the green strips. Nice sense of picture choosing for the color challenge contest.