"Sensitive" plants...

John Taylor [The Banshee] (rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU)
Mon, 31 Aug 92 13:49:31 +0000

I forgot to mention that some (but not all) Greenhood orchids have sensitive
flowers. I've got at least two species, Pterostylis concinna and longiflora,
which have "tongues" which flick back or up into the hood of the flower
(respectively). Another species, P. curta, doesn't have a sensitive tongue.
These flowers work differently to Stylidium (Triggerplant) flowers in that the
sensitive (moving) part doesn't carry the stamens or stigmas, but is used to
restrict the path of the insect when it tries to exit the hood (which is
rather like a stubby, green Sarracenia x excellens pitcher) so that it must
pass over the stamens and/or stigma. There are also other species of
native Australian tuberous orchids which have sensitive flowers of various
types.

BFN