Spurred Butterfly Pea
by Susan Hope Finley
Title
Spurred Butterfly Pea
Artist
Susan Hope Finley
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Spurred butterfly-pea is a trailing or climbing vine that occurs naturally in pine flatwoods, sandhills, coastal strands and interdunal swales. Its showy flowers typically bloom in summer, but can bloom spring through fall, or year-round in South Florida. This plant is pollinated primarily by bees, but is the larval host for Northern cloudywing and Long-tailed skipper butterflies.
Spurred butterfly-pea flowers are papilionaceous, meaning they are butterfly-shaped and highly specialized to allow for bee pollination. The upper petal, known as a banner, has the appearance of two spurred wings. They enclose two fused petals that form a keel in the center of the bloom. The center is white with purplish stripes; this guides bees (and other insects) to the nectar source below the keel. Blooms are inverted (upside down) and may be bluish, purple, pink or near-white. They are ephemeral, lasting only half a day, but typically bloom daily during flowering season.
Uploaded
May 11th, 2019
Statistics
Viewed 226 Times - Last Visitor from White Plains, NY on 03/27/2024 at 1:02 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments
There are no comments for Spurred Butterfly Pea . Click here to post the first comment.