Charles Darwin was the first to note that these cacti have thigmotactic anthers: when the anthers are touched, they curl over, depositing their pollen. This movement can be seen by gently poking the anthers of an open Opuntia flower. (courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Categories: [Canon 30D] [Flowers]
Tags: arizona cactus desert_museum opuntia_engelmannii_lindheimeri pollen prickly_pear texas tucson
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Textbook demonstration of pollen. Should be in life science text books.
Pete Larsen on 22nd June 2009 @ 12:46am