five petals elevated enough on top of the long hirsute perianth
the petals are velvety in texture with a ridge center in every petal
the bunch of bracts become too heavy making them droop
Monday, September 30, 2013
Showy Flower Parts
Mussaenda are native plants of the Philippines. We have hybrids named after first ladies of the country as well as some prominent political and distinguished women, like the Queen Sirikit of Thailand. The flowers of Mussaenda species are not the most conspicuous parts of the plant. They are so minute about 1.0 cm in diameter, bright yellow, and hirsute. The five petals are at the tip of an elongated perianth. However, compared to the other parts of the plant, the flowers are forgotten. Only the insects visiting them see the yellow real flowers. The ostentatiously-flambuoyant parts are actually the bracts. In the case of the Mussaenda philippica 'Doña Luz' below, the bracts are orange in color, a bit curling at the margins, with very prominently deep white venation.
Only one tiny flower is borne by a big bunch of bracts. Maybe the role of the bracts is to attract the insect pollinators. However, this plant is not known to be fruit or seed producing. They are normally propagated through cuttings. But of course the hybrids fully used these minute flowers during pollination
A fully flowering tree will not be missed because of the showy bracts. We tend to prune all the branches at the end of the dry season for the new branches to develop, which eventually produce the showy bracts.
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