In the wild, pineapples are pollinated primarily by hummingbirds, although certain wild pineapples are foraged and pollinated at night by bats. Under cultivation, because seed development diminishes fruit quality, pollination is performed by hand, and seeds are retained only for breeding. In Hawaii, where pineapples were cultivated and canned industrially throughout the 20th century, importation of hummingbirds was prohibited.
The flower of the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanium) is the largest unbranched flower in the world and can reach up to 15 feet tall. The bloom produces a smell like that of rotting meat, giving it the common name of corpse flower.
Stenocereus eruca lies on the ground and grows at one end while the other end slowly dies, allowing it to crawl up to 60 cm a year. This traveling chain of growth gives rise to the name eruca, which means "caterpillar" as well as the common name creeping devil.
The most striking feature of white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) is its fruit, a white berry whose size, shape, and black stigma scar give the species its other common name, "doll's eyes".
Gympie Gympie is an Australian shrub that is nicknamed the "Suicide Plant." Its sting has been described as "being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time." While the initial pain usually lasts from several hours to a few days, it can recur to a lessening degree for several months or even years when the area is touched or exposed to hot or cold water.
The "male" or pollen-bearing part is called the stamen, and is composed of the filament and the anther. The "female" or seed-bearing part is called the pistil, and is composed of the ovary, the stigma, and the style. A flower may have exclusively male parts, exclusively female parts, or commonly, both.
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