HELP! Let's play "name that species".

Hey everyone! I need some help for a school research, I can't find it anywhere so I thought I'd come by :)

I need the names of some plants, it can either be the science name or the common one, as long as you give me a name.

1) The one which is exclusively polinized by that insect with the really, really big tongue, remember? Darn, the tongue is bigger than the animal!

2) The one that smells like rotten flesh in order to attract flies.

3) The one in Madagascar which is polinized by lemurs only.

4) The one that mimics the female wasp.

And any other different-shaped plants you can help me with :) Please, I'd really be grateful if you could tell me the names ASAP... You know you want to!

Thanks!

Lari

 

1. Angraecum sesquipedale.
2. Amorphophallus titanum.

 

Try this link:

http://www.tropicos.org/

There must be 400,000 of the there. Be sure and read the details on a few so you can tell your teacher what you're talking about.

 

Lari - Type the line below into google or just type in "Plant in Madagascar polinated by Lemurs" I came up with this when I did.....

Pollination of Ravenala madagascariensis (Strelitziaceae) by ...
Barb...

 

Lots! As well as Amorphophallus, two other well-known ones are Rafflesia and Stapelia.

 

I don't know about number 1, but questions 3 and 4 can be quickly answered by copying a few of the words from your question and pasting them into Google. It is an assignment, so that is all the help I will give. I know you can find it in moments and would prefer you did the search. There are a lot of correct answers to number two, you could probably get extra points by searching out several of those.

 

Michael, according to some of the info I just read Amorphophallus use their pheromone to attract beetles rather than flies.

 

This forum can be better than Google - sometimes. As already answered, #1 is Angraecum sesquipedale. #2 could be the Amorphallus titanum. #4 would be Ophrys. I don't know #3.

 

I guess anything that is attracted to the smell of corpses will be attracted to it, both burying beetles and various blowflies? Might it be that it is just the beetles that are the most effective at pollination?

 

The spadix of the Amorphophallus is very slippery. The male flowers are found higher on the shaft with the female flowers found lower in a separate region. The beetles have the ability to climb up through the female flowers, collect pollen on their bodies and then as they slip down the spadix they pollinate the female flowers as they pass.

This is a very interesting group of plants although i grow few other than Amorphophallus titanum and Amorphophallus konjak. I've been trading mail recently with the world authority on the genus Dr. Josef Bogner in Germany and I'm in hopes Josef will agree to complete a new "book" which we can publish on the International Aroid Society website which explains much of this. We have a few articles already on the IAS site which some might enjoy reading:

www.Aroid.org

 

Try Lissopimpla excelsa, orchid dupe wasp, in re. #4.

 

That is the insect involved, but the plant species is Cryptostylis ovata.

 

Also, for #4, you could try Drakaea, Caladenia and Chiloglottis. All orchids, by the way.

 

By investigating the wasp involved, one may discover information about the orchid to which it is attracted.

 

Yes, you can. I was just trying to answer the question directly.