Asclepias speciosa
Showy Milkweed
Pollinarium Partially Removed
One Mile West of Melita
16-July-2015
A leg of a pollinating insect will commonly become trapped in the slit between the two anther wings. As the insect moves upward, the leg will slide up the slit and eventually enter the slit in the corpusculum. When the insect flies away, it will carry the corpusculum (and two attached pollinia) with it. The corpusculum sits between two adjacent anthers and is attached to one pollinium from each of these two anthers. The entire structure (corpusculum, pollinia, and connecting arms called retinacula) is called a pollinarium. The pollinarium has been partially removed from this flower.
Speciosa: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.
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Asclepiadaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family.
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