At 03:37 PM 12/15/2004 -0600, you wrote:
I have to agree with one of my colleagues when he said, I agree that
religion is important in society but I reject the underlying premises. Go
Darwin.
Speaking of the evolution of orchids, I am familiar with the co-evolutionary
pollination strategies which account for the structures of many orchid
flowers. However, I have never seen an explanation for the twisting of the
anther and lip in Ludisia discolor. I assume this is also a co-evolutionary
feature relating to a pollination strategy. Could anybody explain the
uncommon lack of symmetry in the flower of this species? Dave
while I cannot speak to the advantage of having an off-axis lip in Ludisia,
I can speak to the fact that there are other orchids with asymmetrical
flowers...many Mormodes have twisted flowers. Also, Tipularia discolor,
native to the eastern United States, has asymmetrical flowers with the lip
askew one direction and the dorsal sepal and petals skewed the other
direction.
---Prem
www.premdesign.com
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