iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 2h

This week, let’s have a look at some of the most dramatic plants in the Americas. I’m talking about Agave. They are fibrous, herbaceous perennial rosettes with large, nectar- & pollen-rich flowers that sustain insects, birds & bats. #Agave #Asparagaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of Agave sp. in full bloom in a garden setting. The plant is a rosette of long, stiff, pointed leaves. The very large, erect inflorescence arises from the rosette and bears lateral branches holding clusters of yellow flowers. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 3h

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Iris flowers are 3-in-1 revolver flowers. Of the 6 tepals, 3 have a tepal, stamen & stigma comprising the meranthium, & a pollinator moves to each of the 3 to get the rewards. Each meranthium has ♂ and ♀ functions. 📷: Iris speculatrix #Iridaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of a single iris flower with six tepals, three of which are darker in color and have a pattern of stripes and contrasting colors. These three tepals are associated with an anther and stigma and function like distinct flowers.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Gloriosa superba is a revolver flower pollinated by butterflies. Each tepal has a nectary & an associated stamen, but only one has an associated stigma. You can think of each tepal as a separate “flower” (called a meranthium), but only one has a ♀ function. #Colchicaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a single, downward-facing flower with orange and yellow tepals that are reflexed to reveal the stamens and superior ovary. The style is abruptly bent to one side of the flower.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Here’s a butterfly on Lilium lancifolium. The flowers are pendulous, & the butterfly must fly up into the flower as many as six times to access the nectaries on the tepal bases. Pollen is transferred on the wings. #Liliaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a cluster of lily flowers. Each flower hangs downward and has orange tepals with dark spots. A large swallowtail butterfly is visiting one flower by landing on the central stamens and probing the base of the tepal.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Some lilies are revolver flowers. Example: Lilium catesbaei (📷: Eleanor CCBYNC2). The narrow tepal bases conceal the nectar & the pollinators (butterflies) must revolve around the flower to access each nectary individually. #Liliaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a single, erect lily flower among grasses. The flower has six orange tepals with yellow clawed bases. The “claw” is tubular because of the inrolled margins.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Here’s another revolver flower: Oxalis acetosella (📷: sabine-g CCBYNC4). The nectar is in the tiny pores at the base of each petal. The pollinator must move around the flower to get it, and in doing so contacts the anthers & stigmas. #Oxalidaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of a single 5-petaled flower. Each petal is white with a fine network of purple veins. The base of each petal, near the center of the flower, is yellow, and bears a small opening, which leads to the nectar.

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Reposted by 🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 06/10/2026

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Geranium robertianum (📷: Saryu Mae 前朝琉 CCBY4) is a revolver flower because, to reach the nectar in those deep nectaries (the dark “pits” at the base of each petal), the pollinator must revolve around the flower, probing each nectary separately. #Geraniaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 2/2

A close-up photo of a single pink, 5-petaled flower. At the base of each petal is a narrow pit that leads to the nectar.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Within a single flower, plants can manipulate pollinator behavior by dividing the nectar reward & making each part tricky to access. The more time the pollinator spends in the flower trying to get nectar, the better chance it has of depositing or collecting pollen. 1/2

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Delphinium (photo 1) and Aconitum (photo 2) do the same thing. The older flowers at the bottom of the raceme are in the female phase; the younger flowers at the top are in the male phase. Bees learn that the older flowers have more nectar. #Ranunculaceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a raceme of delphinium flowers. The flowers are pale blue with a dark “bee” in the center. The buds on the upper part of the raceme are not yet open. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Photo of two raceme of wolfbane flowers. The flowers are dark blue. One raceme has buds on the upper part that are not yet open. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Bumblebees approach Digitalis racemes from the bottom & work their way up. Lower/older flowers are in the ♀ phase (to receive pollen from other plants) & have more nectar; upper/younger flowers are in the ♂ phase (to export pollen). Minimizes self-pollination. #pollination 2/2

Photo of two racemes of foxglove flowers. The flowers are pinkish purple with dark purple spots and speckles. The raceme in the back has buds on the upper part that are not yet open. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Pollinator movements—in an inflorescence or single flower—can influence the way pollen is distributed, and that’s important to plants. Most plants try to avoid self-pollination & exploit pollinator behavior to favor outcrossing. Example: Digitalis purpurea. #Plantaginaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 1/2

Photo of a raceme of foxglove flowers. The flowers are white with purple spots and speckles. The buds on the upper part of the raceme are not yet open. A bumblebee is entering one open flower. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Pauridia pygmaea, of the Cape Region, is just a few cm tall & grows from a summer-dormant corm. The flowers are white & fragrant. Remarkably, as the fruits mature, the stalk bends & pushes the capsule onto the ground. 📷: Martine Robinson CCBYNC4 #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a finger pointing to and nearly overshadowing a tiny plant with two white, star-shaped flowers. The two flowers together are smaller than the fingernail in the photo.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Pauridia has an interesting distribution spread between southern Africa and Australia. They grow from corms. The flowers come in yellow, white, or orange, sometimes with eyespots. This is P. capensis from the Cape Region of S. Africa. 📷: Jenny CCBYNC4 #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of a pair of star-shaped flowers. The tepals are white, at the base of each is a blue spot. A wide black band separates the blue spot from the rest of the white tepal. The yellow anthers are prominent in the center of each flower.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Curculigo spp. are known as “palm grass” because the plicate leaves have an uncanny resemblance to palm seedlings. The inflorescences prove this is no seedling palm! #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 📷1: C. recurvata by Tanetahi CCBY2 📷2: C. capitulata

A planted bed of erect, broad, strappy leaves. The leaves are plicate (with accordion folds).

Close-up photo of the base of a plant with two cone-like inflorescences emerging just above ground level. One inflorescence has bright yellow, star-shaped flowers emerging among the bracts. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Here’s another cultivar of the former Rhodohypoxis, Hypoxis ‘Picta’ (📷: Carol CCBYNCSA2). How I wish I could grow these in the rock garden! #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of dozens of white, star-shaped flowers with elliptical tepals that are rosy pink toward the bases and the tips. The inner tepals are somewhat s-shaped so that the base of the tepal folds toward the center of the flower, hiding the stamens, before turning outward and presenting a broad elliptical surface.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Studies are few, but the flowers are visited by flies, wasps, ants, and beetles. They also make offsets and spread clonally.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Hypoxis now includes species formerly placed in Rhodohypoxis (“rose Hypoxis”). These species have been bred & selected, sometimes sold as florist plants. The inner tepals hide the anthers. Hypoxis baurii 'Tetra Rose' 📷: David Short CCBY2 #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of grassy, folded leaves and large, bright rose-pink, star-shaped flowers with elliptical tepals. The inner tepals are somewhat s-shaped so that the base of the tepal folds toward the center of the flower, hiding the stamens, before turning outward and presenting a broad elliptical surface.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Granted, Hypoxis flowers are pretty similar, but their seeds are amazing when viewed with an SEM. I give you some partial plates from Zona et al. 2009. A seed atlas of Hypoxis from eastern North America. Jour. Torrey Bot. Soc. 136:26–32. doi.org/10.3159/08-R... #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Plate of SEM photographs of Hypoxis hirsute seed. The upper photo is higher magnification than the lower. The cells of the seed are conical with nipple-like tips.

Plate of SEM photographs of Hypoxis juncea seed. The upper photo is higher magnification than the lower. The cells of the seed are dome shaped.

Plate of SEM photographs of Hypoxis sessilis seed. The upper photo is higher magnification than the lower. The cells of the seed are slightly domed and covered with a loose, wrinkled layer.

Plate of SEM photographs of Hypoxis wrightii seed. The upper photo is higher magnification than the lower. The cells of the seed are blocky and rounded but covered with wrinkles that run mostly radially across the cell surface.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This photo of Hypoxis multiceps, another southern African species, shows characteristic features of the family: the tepals are discolorous, i.e. the upper and lower surfaces are different colors. In this case, they’re greenish below and yellow on top. Buds are hairy. #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a cluster of plicate leaves and an erect stalk of flowers. The flowers are yellow and star shaped. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hypoxidaceae flowers lack nectaries, so they don’t offer nectar rewards. (But biologists need to check for micro amounts of nectar from diffuse nectaries.) The flowers have plenty of pollen & are visited by bees. 📷: Hypoxis hemerocallidea of southern Africa. #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of a yellow, star-shaped flower with six tepals and six yellow anthers. Adjacent flower buds are hairy. Background foliage is grassy, folded (plicate) leaves. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hypoxidaceae (Asparagales) are a family of herbaceous rosettes with folded (plicate) leaves. It’s a small family with fewer than 200 spp. Hairs are prominent, & flowers are often yellow. This is Hypoxis hirsuta, which grows in the woodlands around my house. #Hypoxidaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a clump of grassy leaves and several yellow, star-shaped flowers among the leaves. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Strelitzia nicolai is bird-pollinated in an unusual way. Perching birds, like this Cape weaver (Ploceus capensis), pick up the pollen on their feet! 📷: Andrew Core CCBYNC4. #Strelitziaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 Want more #ornithophily? Prof. Jeff Ollerton wrote an excellent book about it.

A plate of two photos showing a yellowish bird perched on the flower of a Strelitzia. The bird’s feet are clasping the flower and exposing the anthers.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Nectar chemistry & floral shape are important adaptations to bird pollination. Some plants add another assurance: viscin threads that stick pollen together & attach to feathers. Here’s the pollen of Delonix regia demonstrating viscin’s role. #Fabaceae #ornithophily #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of a feather drawing away from a stamen with a pollen-laden anther. The pollen is clumped together by threads of viscin. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The black honeyeater (Sugomel nigrum) is a member of the Meliphagidae, a family of 189 species in Australia, New Guinea & the Pacific Islands. They are excellent pollinators. 📷: on Grevillea decora, Arthur Chapman CCBYNCSA4 #ornithophily #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a black and white bird perched on an inflorescence and probing the red flowers. Pollen is visible on the bird’s head.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Leonotis has bright, nectar-rich, tubular flowers that are sunbird favs. Pollen is placed on the top of the head. When cultivated in the Americas, hummingbirds visit & pollinate the flowers in the same way (but hovering). 📷: Nectarinia famosa by Ruperl CCBYNC4 #ornithophily #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a metallic blue-green bird perching on the bare, erect stems between the dense verticillasters of orange, tubular flowers. The bird is inserting its beak into a flower.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Sunbirds (Nectariniidae) are Old World passerines that are species-rich in southern Africa. They need sturdy perches from which to feed. This is Cinnyris chalybeus ssp. chalybeus visiting the flowers of Leonotis sp. (Lamiaceae). 📷: Fiona Hellmann CCBYNC4 #ornithophily #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Zosterops is a genus of over 100 spp native to Africa, Asia, Australia & Pacific Islands. They are known as white-eyes & pollinate many plants whose flowers are not necessarily red and tubular. 📷: Zosterops virens ssp capensis on Cunonia capensis by Gigi Laidler CCBYNC4 #ornithophily #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a greenish bird with a bright white circle around its eye. The bird is partially obscured by the inflorescences it is visiting. The spikes of flowers have dense, white stamens.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

They don't ALL have such long tails. Just some... like this Loddigesia mirabilis on Cavendishia by Emily Hjalmarson CCBYNC4 #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a hummingbird with distinctive, long racquet-tail feathers feeding from a pendulous flower.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Hummingbirds have a special talent: the ability to hover. They can access flowers that have no perch or landing pad. It makes for photogenic feeding! 📷: Sappho sparganurus on Iochroma (or relative) by Naturalist Tours CC0 #ornithophily #Salvia #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a colorful (green, orange and black) hummingbird feeding from pendulous, tubular blue flowers. The photo catches the bird with its beak pointing straight up and its wings outstretched. The broad, long tail is pointing downward.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Most of the 375 hummingbird spp. are found in the American Tropics. Their taste in flowers is the same as in the US: nectar-rich, tubular flowers, often red. #ornithophily #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 1. Aglaiocercus kingii on Fuchsia Derek Spencer CCBY4 2. Saucerottia cyanura on Megaskepasma Marc Gonger CCBYNC4

Photo of a metallic green hummingbird with an extraordinarily long tail visiting the purple and red flower of a hybrid fuchsia.

Photo of a metallic green, blue and orange hummingbird visiting white flowers surrounded by bright red bracts.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Thanks. I love learning the stories behind the names.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

When we talk about bird pollination (ornithophily) in eastern North America, we’re talking about one species of hummingbird, but western N. America has many more species, including this one, Calypte anna, pollinating Salvia spathacea 📷: Erica Fleniken CCBYNC4 #ornithophily #Salvia #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a greenish hummingbird with a dark gullet probing the red tubular flowers of a salvia.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Palm taxonomists have Coccothrinax argentea and Coccothrinax argentata. It's not ideal, but somehow we manage. 😂 #Arecaceae

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

In perfumery, gardenia accords are built from white floral and green fragrances, along with indole, to give a funky/dirty note of realism. They simulate the lush, rich fragrance of gardenia without using floral extracts of gardenia. 📷: G. jasminoides cultivar. #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of a double-flowered cultivar of gardenia. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Gardenia thunbergia also has semi-dry, woody fruits, but they remain attached to the parent plant & are browsed by antelopes, specifically the greater & lesser kudus (Tragelaphus spp.). If not eaten, the fruits decay & skeletonize, like this one in California. #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo of skeletonized fruit still attached to a woody branch. The soft parts of the fruit have decayed away, leaving only a network of woody fibers. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The fruits of gardenias develop from inferior ovaries. They can be fleshy berries or semi-dry, woody pods. Gardenia volkensii, a species from tropical Africa, has fruits that are probably consumed by large mammals like baboons, which disperse the seeds. #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a hand cradling a gray, ovoid fruit with a few longitudinal ridges. The surface of the fruit is smooth with scattered corky patches. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The buds & young leaves of some species are covered with a resinous secretion, perhaps to reduce water loss or deter herbivores. Gardenia resinosa is an Australian species, adapted to fires, & resprouts at ground level after a fire. 📷: Richard L. Boyne CCBYNC4 #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of leafy shoots and a white flower with a six-lobed, salverform corolla. The resinous coating on the leaves is not visible.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

And if the domatia are wonderful enough, Gardenia taitensis has beautiful, large, fragrant flowers. It’s a fabulous species from islands of the southwest Pacific. 2/2

Photo of a large white flower with a salverform corolla and a narrow tube. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Some gardenias have extra-floral nectaries on the leaves that ants tend. Gardenia taitensis has mite domatia on the undersides of the leaves. Those little pockets in the axils of the main veins are home to beneficial mites. #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 1/2

Close-up photo of the back of a leaf. Mite domatia, small pockets in the axils of the midvein and large secondary veins, are present. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The flowers of Gardenia imperialis are unusual (see this morning’s post), & the leaves are interesting, too. They have pouches at the base that ants may use, though they don't offer much shelter. 📷: Carel Jongkind CCBYNC4 #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a leafy shoot. Leaves have short petioles. The base of one leaf is circled. On both sides of the midvein, at the base of the blade, two shallow pockets or depressions are visible.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Gardenia imperialis, a riverbank species from tropical Africa, has chalice-shaped flowers, unlike the narrow, tubular flowers of most species. What pollinates it? Moths? Bats? I know of no published studies of its pollination. 📷: Carel Jongkind CCBYNC4 #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a large, tubular flower. The tube is wide, and the shallow corolla lobes are reflexed. Five anthers are adnate to the inside of the corolla, and central stigma & style are prominent.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Most gardenias have white flowers. Some open white and age to yellow, and a few have yellow or even orangish flowers from the start. Gardenia carinata is probably the darkest yellow-orange of the lot. It’s from Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of leafy shoots bearing large, orange, many-lobed, salverform flowers. The corolla tube is long and narrow. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Gardenia is a genus of 123 spp. of woody plants from Africa, Asia & Australia, but only a few species, like G. jasminoides, are commonly cultivated. Moths most probably pollinate the fragrant, white, tubular flowers. 📷: G. jasminoides 'Kleim's Hardy' #Gardenia #Rubiaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a large, white flower with a salverform, 6-lobed corolla, 6 narrow stamens, and prominent stigma. Glossy green leaves form the backdrop. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

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