Milkweed Flower Morphology

Plants in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae all have a very interesting morphology. One particularly interesting modification is that the staminate and pistillate parts are fused together into a structure called a gynostegium. The stamens have been modified so that the pollen sticks together to form pollinia. Members of the Genus Asclepias (and some other genera) have a very specialized corona that forms structures called hoods and horns. This morphology is explained in the below longitudinal section.

Close-up of a pollinium:

This is what it looks like normally.

Posted on November 29, 2018 01:28 AM by nathantaylor nathantaylor

Comments

Such valuable journal entries. Thanks for putting these informative things together, Nathan! It reminds me of reading @gcwarbler’s blogs — when he worked at Balcones, he put together such great blog entries (and now does it with iNat). https://www.friendsofbalcones.org/chucks-STUFF

Keep it up, Nathan — I really enjoy these entries.

Posted by sambiology over 5 years ago

Ditto what @sambiology said. Your contributions are certainly educational and helpful.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Posted by connlindajo over 5 years ago

Glad you two are enjoying it!

Posted by nathantaylor over 5 years ago

Wonderful, Nathan.

Posted by sonnia over 5 years ago

This is so-o-o-o beneficial! Thanks, Nathan.

Posted by suz over 5 years ago

great labeling of photos
thanks for sharing!

Posted by louisdemarchi over 2 years ago

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