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Greek Milkweed
Asclepias speciosa
1998
The horns of the milkweed flower are appendages of the stamens and guide the insect to the nectar which is at the bottom of the hoods. The pollen forms pollinia which are connected to a wishbone-shaped translator. The pollinia on a single translator (there are five per flower) come from two adjacent anthers. Visitors tend to catch their legs in the slits of the columns and leave carrying the translator with them. When another flower is visited, the pollinia are drawn into the stigmatic slit. Violà - pollination! These flowers are pollinated by bees, beetles, butterflies, and wasps. Flowers of different species of Asclepias are constructed differently enough so that pollen is not transferred from the anther of one to the stigma of the other. Asclepias is the god of medicine.
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