#Dorstenia gigas @ #Copenhagen #BotanicalGardens #pseudanthia #pseudoflowers forming, closeup

#Dorstenia gigas @ #Copenhagen #BotanicalGardens #pseudanthia #pseudoflowers forming, closeup

#Dorstenia gigas @ #Copenhagen #BotanicalGardens #pseudanthia #pseudoflowers forming, closeup

#Dorstenia gigas @ #Copenhagen #BotanicalGardens #pseudanthia #pseudoflowers forming, closeup

Revisiting the waking #Dorstenia gigas @ #Copenhagen #BotanicalGardens

#pseudanthia #pseudoflowers forming

#Socotra #Soqotra #Yemen

#succulents #botany #plantscience @plants

Close-up of the purple bracts of Bougainvillea subtending the small white flowers.

Close-up of three flowers of Allionia closely pressed together and presenting as a single flower.

Bonus #pseudanthia post: The purple bits of Bougainvillea spectabilis are showy bracts that subtend the tiny white flowers, but in Allionia incarnata (Cecelia Alexander CC0), the “flower” (pseudanthium) is comprised of 3 zygomorphic flowers held closely together. Both #Nyctaginaceae. #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up of the “flower” of dogwood. The flowers are tiny, yellow, actinomorphic flowers in the center, surrounded by four, white, broad bracts that resemble petals.

I must mention the #pseudanthia of dogwood (Cornus florida; #Cornaceae). It was made the state “flower” of North Carolina by popular demand, but (again) the people were fooled. I doubt many would recognize the tiny flowers in the pseudanthium as dogwood. #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of the inflorescence of this species. The strappy green leaves are visible. The spikes of tiny flowers are subtended by broad, orange bracts.

Freycinetia cumingiana has pseudanthia comprised of showy bracts surrounding the spikes of tiny, unisexual flowers. These pseudanthia are visited by birds, who are the likely pollinators. #Pandanaceae #pseudanthia #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of the heads of this sedge. Each one is subtended by white, linear bracts.

We usually think of Cyperaceae as having small, wind-pollinated flowers, but Rhynchospora latifolia has gone in for insect pollination via pseudanthia. The showy, white bits subtending the spikelets are bracts. #pseudanthia #Cyperaceae #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a leafy shoot bearing several inflorescences. Each one is subtended by a collar of two red bracts. The yellow flowers & nectar glands are tiny and located in the center. The result is that each inflorescence looks like a single, actinomorphic flower.

The cyathium of #Euphorbiaceae is a kind of pseudanthium in which a “flower” is recreated by bracts acting like petals, staminate flowers acting like stamens, and carpellate flowers acting like the gynoecium (pistil). It is a marvel of evolution! #pseudanthia 📷: Euphorbia geroldii #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a leafy shoot bearing an erect, spicate inflorescence. 4 large white bracts subtend the spike. The entire inflorescence looks like a single flower, as described in the post.

When bracts get involved, the pseudanthium can be even more flower-like. This is the inflorescence of Houttuynia cordata (#Saururaceae) with showy white bracts subtending the spike of flowers. It resembles a single, 4-petaled Magnolia flower! #pseudanthia #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a hand holding a cluster of dark pink flowers. The peripheral flowers in the cluster have enlarged corollas, making the entire cluster look like a single actinomorphic flower.

The pseudanthium of Rhodoleia henryi (#Hamamelidaceae) “recreates” a flower via zygomorphic, peripheral flowers that have enlarged corollas. This species is from subtropical China. I suspect it is bird-pollinated. #pseudanthia #botany 🌾🧪🌱

A branch bearing axillary clusters of small yellow flowers. Some peripheral flowers have a very large, showy, red sepal lobe.

A cluster of yellow flowers, a few with white enlarged sepal lobes.

A bright yellow, actinomorphic flower is surrounded by white enlarged sepal lobes.

A ground-hugging creeping plant with grayish leaves is growing in dry, rocky ground. The flowers are yellow and surrounded by pink enlarged sepal lobes.

The pseudanthia of many Rubiaceae involve peripheral flowers with enlarged sepal lobes. 1. Warszewiczia coccinea. 2. Pseudomussaenda flava. 3. Mussaenda philippinensis. 4. Cruckshanksia hymenodon. These showy bits are not bracts. They’re sepals. #pseudanthia #Rubiaceae #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a compound umbel with each umbel bearing enlarged peripheral flowers.

Coriandrum sativum has compound umbellate inflorescences. Each umbel has zygomorphic flowers around its periphery. These flowers have enlarged corollas that help catch the eyes of pollinators. #pseudanthia #Apiaceae#botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a hand holding a branch with two inflorescences. The inflorescences are heads of creamy white flowers. The peripheral flowers are larger and showier.

Cephalaria gigantea (Caprifoliaceae) uses dimorphic flowers to create a pseudanthium (similar to what Asteraceae do). Peripheral flowers of the inflorescence are larger & zygomorphic, thereby showier & more attractive to pollinators. #pseudanthia #Caprifoliaceae #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of the “flower” of the Mexican sunflower, which looks like an orange sunflower. Orange ray florets surround yellowish-orange disc florets.

A pseudanthium (pl. pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a single flower with an eye-catching periphery & a reproductive center. Asteraceae are classic examples: ray florets are showy; disc florets are reproductive. 📷: Tithonia rotundifolia #Asteraceae #pseudanthia #botany 🌾🧪🌱