Fw: [indiantreepix:15522] Re: Commelina benghalensis ?

[Madhuri Pejaver]

I am forwarding my quarry again.
Related to Commelina we now know about tasty pakodas, its 7 sps, flower leaf, stem discription and colour.
But i had asked a question about the Cleistogamous flowers of this genera. the plant is known to have two types of flowers the one open we call as chasmogamous flowers, where pollination is by diff agents and hence attractive colours, shape etc.
I wanted to know about the second type of flower which remains closed called as cleistogamous, do these flowers too have the different varieties as open flower ?
do they vary from species to species?
if so any observation related to it?
experts please comment.
Madhuri

--- On Sat, 8/8/09, Madhuri Pejaver <formp...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Madhuri Pejaver <formp...@yahoo.com>
> Subject: [indiantreepix:15522] Re: Commelina benghalensis ?
> To: "indian tree pix" <indian...@googlegroups.com>, "shubhada nikharge" <shubhada...@yahoo.co.in>
> Date: Saturday, 8 August, 2009, 7:58 PM
>
> Related to Commelina i just had a doubt. This is a
> chamoclestogamous plant. What we see are chasmogamous
> flowers and we talk about their structure and colour etc.
> q is do the cleistogamous flowers also differ in shape?
> appearence ? position as per the sps? has aybody recorded
> it? it will be interesting to know about.
> thanks
> madhuri
>
> --- On Sat, 8/8/09, shubhada nikharge <shubhada...@yahoo.co.in>
> wrote:
>
> > From: shubhada nikharge <shubhada...@yahoo.co.in>
> > Subject: [indiantreepix:15510] Commelina benghalensis
> ?
> > To: "indian tree pix" <indian...@googlegroups.com>
> > Date: Saturday, 8 August, 2009, 7:09 PM
> > Hi,
> > attached a pic of
> > Commelina
> > taken at Salim Ali Point, conservation
> > Education Centre, Goregaon (E), Mumbai on 2nd Aug
> 2009.
> >
> > Is it Commelina benghalensis?
> > pl see the colour difference. the flowers are
> > not blue.
> >
> > cheers,
> > shubhada
> >
> >
> >
> >
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[shubhada nikharge]

Hi,
I would like to put one more query in continuation to Madhuri's queries.

Why do Commelina plants waste their energy in producing 2 types of flowers, one underground and the other above ground?

i have a link to 2 videos of a blister beetle eating the flower of Commelina, taken at CEC, Goregaon. (excuse me for a poor quality of video).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shubhada_nikharge/3810921438/in/set-72157621882854875/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shubhada_nikharge/3810095573/in/set-72157621882854875/

The beetle has eaten the flower completely, including pollen sacs. No chance of pollination!  Is it the explanation for underground flowers?
cheers,
shubhada

---

From: Madhuri Pejaver <formp...@yahoo.com>
To: "indian...@googlegroups.com" <indian...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, 10 August, 2009 4:44:41 PM
Subject: [indiantreepix:15663] Fw: [indiantreepix:15522] Re: Commelina benghalensis ?

[J.M. Garg]

The following queries remain unexplained:

"I wanted to know about the second type of flower which remains closed called as cleistogamous, do these flowers too have the different varieties as open flower ?"

&

"Why do Commelina plants waste their energy in producing 2 types of flowers, one underground and the other above ground?"

May experts enlighten us?

--
With regards,
J.M.Garg (jmg...@gmail.com)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1
'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna'
Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg
For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- Indiantreepix:http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en

[Gurcharan Singh]

It is an interesting question:

Commelina benghalensis is among some of the few species having underground cleistogamous flowers. The species is often used as a vegetable and is a serious weed in many parts of the world and often difficult to eradicate. They seem to play important role for the plant. It is an adaptive radiation responsible for success of species in many parts of the world. The aerial parts may be weeded out, and visible flowers not allowed to produce seeds, but subterranean cleistogamous flowers persist in the ground and produce seeds to allow spread of species. These flowers are self fertilised thus maintaining inbreeding in populations, maintaining purity of populations.

 

Gurcharan Singh 

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