When I looked to see the effect Michael mentioned, I discovered that all
_Opuntia_ flowers are filled with a zillion little bugs, and there's so much
movement because of them, I could never look for subtle plant motions!
>It's my understanding that there are two D. adelae forms,
>"red" and "green", which refers to the flowers. Mine is
Rob, the green flowered form still has red pigment in the leaves,
so it is not really anthocyanin free. I have grown several clones of
the green flowered form, and every one that flowered turned out to be
the red form. I think that if you grow this plant in less than strong
light, the petals tend to be green, and so people are getting tricked.
On a related note, I have an all-green _Sarracenia_, but sometimes there
is the faintest hint of red venation on the leaves, and developing leaves
are deep red. So it is not an anthocyanin-free critter.
>Is there a good introduction to field identification and/or classification
>terms like "inflorescense" for the layman?
Cy: I have a couple of suggestions for you. My favorite book for checking
details of taxonomical terms, and an excellent book for learning
how to do field IDs using keys, dissecting ovaries, etc., is
HOW TO IDENTIFY PLANTS by Harrington and Durrell (ISBN 0-8040-0149-9).
A second book which I just recently got is simply a large key that keys
out all the plant families in non-tropical USA. The is THE IDENTIFICATION
OF FLOWERING PLANT FAMILIES by Davis and Cullen (ISBN 0-521-37707-2).
Significantly more expensive and more esoteric is a fascinating book
on plant morphology called PLANT FORM by Bell (ISBN 0-19-854219-4).
This is a great book that has a well illustrated two-page
description for each of many interesting morphological features. If you
need to know the difference between cataphylls, prophylls, and
phylloclades, this book is it.
B