Close-up photo of the trunk of the tree. It has short dangling branches bearing green figs.

Close-up photo of the branches bearing many red figs.

#Flagelliflory can also be related to seed #dispersal. Ficus racemosa (#Moraceae) is intermediate between flagelliflory & cauliflory. Access to pollinators (#wasps) is not the issue, but access to dispersers (#bats 🦇 & other animals) is facilitated by inflorescence morphology. #Botany 🌾🌱

Photo of a sparsely branched tree with long, dangling inflorescences of brush-like white flowers.

What does #flagelliflory do for the plant? It’s related to reproduction, often to #pollination by bats (#chiropterophily 🦇), as exemplified by this Barringtonia procera (#Lecythidaceae). Powder-puff flowers are borne away from the leaves, giving large #bats easier access. 🦇 #Botany #PlantScience 🌾

Photo of the trunk of a tree with several inflorescence branches diverging from the trunk. From thee branches dangle long, fig-studded branches.

Figs, too, can do #flagelliflory very well. This is a species of Ficus (#Moraceae) that I observed in Papua, Indonesia some years ago (& I still don’t have an ID on it!). Note the many flagelliform inflorescences emerging up & down the trunk. #Ficus #fig #TropicalBotany #Botany #PlantScience 🌾

Photo of the base of a woody plant with whip-like horizontal branches growing across the leaf litter. Several large red flowers are visible.

#Annonaceae are experts at #flagelliflory. Here’s the evocatively named Duguetia cadaverica showing off a flagelliform inflorescence that grows along & through the leaf litter. The #beetle-pollinated flowers smell of death. 📷: Hervé Galliffet CC BY-NC 4 via iNaturalist. #Botany #PlantScience 🌾