Morning Glories: Morning Glories 2008 #24, 0 by beckygardener

beckygardener wrote:
I just made an interesting and important (for me anyway) discovery about Ipomoea lobata. I was out looking at the blooms and for the first time ever, I noticed the Stigma and Anthers sticking out from the blooms. I've never seen this before even when I grew them almost 2 years ago! So, I got out my trusty paint brush and lightly brushed the anthers and looked at the brush tip ... sure enough! there was pollen all over the brush! So, I promptly and gently dusted the Stigma with the pollen from my brush. :-) We'll see if it works. :-)

So apparently, when the buds are in full bloom, they turn a whitish color and the stigma and anthers emerge & extend out from the bloom for pollination! This MG species is so very different than most MGs I have seen or grown myself. Most enlightening to have made such a discovery this morning.

Here in the photo you can see the reproductive parts sticking out from the whitish bloom. :-) Sorry the photo isn't real sharp focus.

This message was edited Nov 11, 2008 10:25 AM