Saturday, February 14, 2009

Orchids Flower





Orchids are easily distinguished, as they share some very evident apomorphies. Among these: bilaterally symmetric (zygomorphic), many resupinate, one petal (labellum) is always highly modified, stamens and carpels are fused, and the seeds are extremely small.


























[Source: Flower Pictures]
Read more on this article...

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Pansy and Peony flowers









Pansy:The pansy or pansy violets are a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis. The name "pansy" also appears as part of the common name for other Viola species that are wildflowers in Europe. Some unrelated species, such as the Pansy Monkeyflower, also have "pansy" in their name.

Origin:Though early experimental crosses using the common bi-colored "Johnny-jump-up" or "Pied Heart's-Ease", Viola tricolor, a pretty weed of grain fields and hedgerows, were also being made by William Richardson, gardener to Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet (1785-1861), daughter of the Earl of Tankerville, at Walton-on-Thames, the modern garden pansy had its origin in the Iver, Buckinghamshire, estate of James, Lord Gambier, whose gardener William Thompson began about 1813 crossing various viola species with Viola tricolor. A yellow viola, V. lutea, and a wide-petalled pale yellow species of Russian origin, V. altaica[5] were among the crosses that began the new hybrids, today classed as Viola x Wittrockiana. A round flower of overlapping petals was an early aim of Robinson's trials; in the late 1830s he found a chance sport that no longer had narrow nectar guides of dark color on the petals but a broad dark blotch on the petals, which came to be called the "face." Developed in Gambier's garden and released to the public in 1839 with the name "Medora," this pansy and its progeny, including "Victoria", rapidly became popular with gardeners and breeders throughout Europe.








Peony:The peony or paeony (Paeonia) is the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America.

Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.5–1.5 metres tall, but some are woody shrubs up to 1.5–3 metres tall. They have compound, deeply lobed leaves, and large, often fragrant flowers, ranging from red to white or yellow, in late spring and early summer. In the past, the peonies were often classified in the family Ranunculaceae, alongside Hellebores and Anemones.




























Read more on this article...

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Orange Clock Vine



Today’s Flowers is a group of bloggers from all over the world that post flower pictures on Sunday. You can always find some beautiful and interesting flowers by visiting the participants.

This is the fourth species of Thunbergia that has been posted on this site. Read more on this article...

Friday, February 6, 2009

Columbine flowers





Columbine is native to Asia, Europe and North America. Columbine flower is a favorite of hummingbirds and bees because the flowers contain lots of nectar.





































Read more on this article...