In science texts flowers are drawn as lilies. These are simple flowers, easy to diagram. In reality many plants have intricate flowers.
Milkweeds are one of these flowers. European botanists started studying these in the 1500s. Yet the flower wasn’t completely diagramed out and understood until the 1960s.
Passion Flowers
Most passion flowers are tropical. Missouri hosts two of them. One is the large one commonly called Maypop. This four inch across flower is purple and white, hard to miss on its vine draping across bushes.
The second is the yellow passion flower. You have to take your time and look for this one as it is only a half inch across and a pale yellow green. This is a delicate vine that twines around other plants or fence wire in shady, moist areas.
Intricate Flowers
A lily has a single set of petals called a corona. Passion flowers are different. They have an outer corolla made up of wavy filaments. Then is an inner short corolla sticking straight up. The little green passion flower has a third corolla of rolled petals.
In the center of the flower rises a single stalk. At the top three stamens branch off to hang down. The club ends open up to expose yellow pollen. Three pistils branch off opening sticky ends to gather pollen.
Finding Intricate Flowers
Many of the wildflowers blooming over the spring and summer look like simple ones. Looks can be Deceiving.
Those dandelions, asters, daisies and sunflowers among others are really groups of flowers. Ray flowers form the petals. Disk flowers open to give off pollen and/or collect pollen to make seeds.
Aristolochia flowers have intricate shapes. Insect eating flowers form complex traps.
Dismissing flowers as simple bits of color is a mistake. Stop and take a closer look at them and discover some of the intricate flowers or even admire the simple ones which are more complex than the text diagrams make them seem.