The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Perennials => Topic started by: fragman on August 29, 2011, 06:34:01 PM
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We were lucky to have this striking pink blooming in our gardens. It is native in the dry high mountains of the Levant (S Turkey to Sinai-Egypt). A short lived perennial. So we have to renew it from seeds every 2-3 years. Amazingly every plant has a different dot patters.
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Nice photo, Ori.
One has to wonder what purpose is served by the petals having laciniate edges.
...On this and other plants such as Lychnis flos-cuculi.
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On Mike's point, I've always thought that elaborate petal fringes dramatically increase the flower's visibility (to insect pollinators). I suppose this sort of optical enhancement would be particularly helpful to any night pollinators working by sight rather than by scent.
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Hmmm. Do they, Alasdair? One could argue that, for a given expenditure of resources (primarily petal area), the flower would be brightest if it was a complete disc. Feathering the edges of the petals may allow a greater diameter, but the overall brightness (ie. from a distance) would be diluted by the (presumably darker) background.
I would be interesting in seeing pictures of such cut-petalled flowers (a selection of specis) under UV lighting; maybe there are 'honey guides' extending out to join up with the cuts?
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I suppose that it is a similar case to the alpine Dianthus superbus. I don't think they are not primarily night flowers, open all day.
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Dianthus superbus was happily open in the daytime when we were in the Cerdagne (Eastern Pyrenees) earlier this month. But the heightened visibility of a fringed flower contour would also be valuable in daytime.