How does this waterlily protect its seeds?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
July 2, 2003
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading—>Click here.
The fragrant white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata Aiton) is native to lakes and slow moving streams in eastern North America ranging from the temperate to tropical zones. The flowers are only open for a few hours in the early morning. Each flower has a lifespan of three days and a strategy to prevent self-pollination or 'selfing'. The beautiful flowers are not designed for butterflies or bees, but to attract beetles. ("Paleoherbs II", Department of Botany, University of Toronto)
Nymphaea odorata flowers are protogynous [pro tog' e nous], the ovary matures and the stigma is receptive for pollination before the stamens have matured. The first morning the flower opens, it is filled with a fluid. Beetles are attracted by the scent, but the petals give little footing and the insects slip into the fluid. Any pollen the beetles are carrying from another flower is washed off and floats to the stigma. By mid to late morning, the flower closes and remains closed until dawn the following day.
The second and third mornings, the fluid is gone from the flower. The stamens mature and shed their pollen. Visiting beetles come to feast on the pollen, a high energy food. They get covered with it and will carry away enough to pollinate flowers that are in their first day. ("Fragrant Water Lily", Washington State Department of Ecology)
The anti-selfing strategy goes beyond just a single flower. Waterlily plants seldom have multiple flowers that are in stages where they might pollinate another flower on the same plant.
If the fragrant waterlily flower is successfully pollinated and the ovules fertilized, the peduncle (flower's stem) twists into a loose coil. The closed flower is pulled underwater. This allows the seeds, also a high-energy food, to mature where they are less likely to be eaten by birds or hungry beetles.
The Native Plant Society of New Jersey has posted a photograph of the fragrant white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata) taken by Rochelle Crew at the Jenny Jump State Forest. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://www.npsnj.org/n_odorata.htm
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
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What plant commemorates the death of a dragon? Herbal Folklore - March 11, 2002
How did Native Americans use waterlilies? Herbal Folklore - June 30, 2003
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