Trivial Tuesdays - Black as night

For this week's post, I must admit I cheated; it wasn't a random pick, you'll see why.

Q.8

What colour is produced by the complete absorption of light rays?

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A.8

Black

Great Job! This might have been an easy question this week but I won't be discussing colour wheels or even colour perception, nope, I'll be introducing you to some mysterious black flowers. This fascination of mine began with talk of a black rose, not a tinted rose, but a genuine black rose.

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A black rose just has a certain je ne sais quoi about it that makes me dream. It may however just be a dream since that darkest variety known (or that I have managed to find a latin name to) is called the "Louis XIV" and it's more of a dark crimson red.

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Oh don't get me wrong it's beautiful, but it's not really black. Which brings about the question, are there really black plants? Well, keep scrolling to find out.

If you read my post about orchid's a while back (click here), you know now that orchids are the most diverse flowering plant family in the world, surely, if a black flower exists, it will be found within this group.

You be the judge.

I selected these two mainly for the awesomeness of their name. I just had to share.

       Devil's Dracula Orchid                           Vampire's Dracula Orchid

     Dracula diabola                                       Dracula vampira

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Right? Who says science is boring. Speaking of Vampires and scientific names, have I ever mentioned the amazing Vampire Squid from Hell - Vampyrotheutis? No? Well, let me digress and post a link.

Yep it's amazing! But since it's not black or a plant, I'll stop at that.

Out of the orchids now (although they do yield other dark flowers) but continuing with the vampire theme. I'd like to introduce the Bat Flower. I recently discovered it at the Botanical Gardens and fell in love.

  Bat Flower

Tacca chantieri

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Aren't they cute? The seed pods in the picture to the right really look like little sleeping bats. It is also called Cat's Whiskers (for obvious reasons) and Devil's Flower and is originally from South Est Asia.

The next flower is particularly dark and is one of the closest I have found to a true black (it does however vary from flower to flower even within the same plant. 

Black Hollyhock  

Alcea Rosea 'Nigra'

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And then there is the last one, so cute and so dark I kept it for last. 

Sorbet Black Delight Viola
Viola
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Do you have dark or even black flowers in you backyard?

Have you ever received a Black Rose or any other Black flower as a gift?
I'd love to know for what occasion.

Have a great week!
Take care!

Shepherd's Purse and their Canivorous Seeds

Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), a common weed found all over Montreal, a weed I frequently unearthed from my garden, a weed I found cute enough to repot, in a adorable tiny earth pot, and take care of for months before it died of thirst (I like plants, I never once said I was any good at keeping them alive).

Well, this little plant capable of producing 50,000 seeds is CARNIVOROUS!

Actually,  it's seeds are to be more precise, which makes the seed production number quite alarming don't you think? The seeds of the Shepherd's purse are covered by mucilage, a sticky substance, that attracts, captures and digests insects (larvae mostly, we're fine). These added nutrients gives the seed a competitive edge when germinating.

I know right? Not exactly what you expected from a carnivorous plant. Bet you were thinking more on the lines of Mario Brothers, Pitcher plants, Venus Fly traps, and sundews.

Yep, Nature Rocks!




Take care!