A great anecdote of the interesting life cycle of Cryptocoryne....is beautifully narrated! I couldn't guess when you shared the pictures, and was waiting for this post with curiosity. Thanks Shrikant ji, I am now enlightened!
Regards Vijayasankar Raman National Center for Natural Products Research University of Mississippi On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 2:33 AM, Dr Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]>wrote: > Very interesting plant and interesting information. I imagine what insects > take courage to go inside to pollinate it :) > Cryptocryne as the name can be translated as Spadix hidden in spathe !! > Very interesting. Thanks a lot for sharing sir. > Pankaj > > > On Friday, 12 October 2012 10:39:33 UTC+8, shrikant ingalhalikar wrote: >> >> I hope 2 images posted earlier aroused enough curiosity. >> >> The aquatic plant with most curious life cycle on the Kas Plateau- At the >> begining of monsoon, as soon as water collects in the depression on the >> plateau, a pink bud (Curious 1) rises above through the wet ground. The >> stalk grows very rapidly to about 10 cm and the bud opens up to disguise >> like a flower (Curious 2). This is actually the capsule of Cryptocoryne >> spiralis, of Araceae. The seeds get dispersed in shallow flowing water and >> germinate. The plant then grows a cluster of cauline leaves in wet season >> (Curious 3), the corm lying well below the ground. At the end of rainy >> season a spadix inflorescence grows from the base of the plant (Curious 4) >> and sends out a spiral spathe above the ground. The insects enter through >> the spiral entrance and pollinate the underground spadix. The capsule and >> seeds remain underground (Crypt) and await the next rainy season to emerge >> above ground. Many Araceae plants have elongating peduncle like this one, >> some even bury themselves from above when the ground is still wet. All this >> is to protect seeds below ground till the wet season. >> >> I conclude my contribution to Kas episode with this plant that fascinates >> me the most. Regards, >> > -- > > > > --
