Cobra
Plant
Darlingtonia
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Darlingtonia californica
©
2005
Makoto Honda. All Rights Reserved
A flower
interior, showing the bell-shaped ovary, surrounded by stamens.
The
Darlingtonia flower
interior, showing the bell-shaped ovary. Hidden underneath the ovary grows a
style that terminates in a 5-pointed stigma. The bell shape of the ovary
effectively shields the stigma from falling pollen, thus avoiding gravity-led
self-pollination. Note that the pollens are being shed in this freshly opened
flower; however, the stigma appears to be not fully receptive.