Published by artyplantsman

Frustrated artist and plantsman from Northern England

55 Comments

        1. I think we are probably only a week or two ahead of you. We have a few crocus showing colour in the garden. The hoop-petticoat daffs in my pics are always early. Snowdrops are just approaching their best here.

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    1. That is Massonia pustulata from South Africa. This is the true species. A botanist in 2012 discovered that the plant that had been grown under this name for a century was the wrong plant and if you google M. Pustulata you still usually see the wrong one which should be M. Longipes. These species with large visible pools of nectar are usually pollinated by mice and gerbils in the wild.

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        1. You are welcome. I have the papers somewhere that describe the first observations, quite recently, of mice pollinating the similar M. depressa. It has long been suspected because the flowers look a little like, and smell like, some low growing Proteas that were known to be rodent pollinated. Also the nectar has a special thickening agent in it that makes it too viscous for insects to suck it up through their proboscis, which stops the bugs stealing it. Isn’t nature amazing? 😄

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    1. Thank you. For these I used my digital SLR. It is a now quite old Canon 1000D. The poor light at this time of year makes depth of field a challenge without a tripod. The last pic is the sharpest because I could rest my elbows on the bench to steady the camera. Sometimes I use the phone or ipad camera but still getting used to these.

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  12. I totally agree with Sarah, the last flower looks so unusual. Massonia pustulata from South Africa, you say? I learn new things every time I visit your blog, Darren. If it’s not about you it is about a plant. Either way I always enjoy it. Beautiful shots! Hakuna Matata my friend.

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