The first thing I heard outside this morning was a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. She was hovering in front of a Cardinal Flower, a native wildflower of North America.
Those red blossoms hold a reward of nectar inside. I think the flower was glad to see the hummingbird, too. Cardinal Flowers depend on hummingbirds. Hummers are the only creatures adapted to pollinate its flowers.
A perfect fit
A Cardinal Flower blossom perfectly fits the hummingbird’s beak and head. When a hummingbird dips its bill into the blossom’s center to get nectar, it bumps its head against an anther tube that rises out of the flower. That puts a few grains of pollen on its forehead.
Male and female
When a Cardinal Flower blossom first opens, it plays a male role. The anther tube has some white hairs at the end. They are like a tiny brush, which acts like a trigger. When it’s bumped, it squirts out some microscopic pollen grains.
After the flower has been open a few days, it stops producing pollen. It switches to a female role. Right out of the center of that same long tube, a brightly-colored female structure emerges. It’s the stigma. It’s slightly sticky and will pick up any pollen it contacts.
When a hummingbird carrying pollen visits a blossom that is in the female stage, the stigma picks up the pollen from the bird’s head. Pollination accomplished! Now the flower can form seeds. And life continues.
Great photos to enhance your story!! Wonderful to have a microscope to show the pollen besides a good camera and steady hand to take such great photos!!
Thank you for all the wonderful information and photos you share with us!!
Unfortunately, I do not have the proper location to grow cardinal flowers. However, I do have other flowers that the hummers like and enjoy watching them hum around my yard and gardens!!
I love these photos! I have found cardinal flower particularly difficult to photograph. The red petals always look flat like a Matisse painting.