A beignners guide to Dragons. Gongora histrionica
A beginners guide to dragons – see the lettered pic.
A is of course the head – with that fearsome beak where the flames come out .
C are the wings – quite scaly – not like a bird’s wings.
D is the long tail used to counterbalance the beast when it launches itself forward. – when you see that- dodge – very quickly .
It looks almost like a pouncing bird of prey – some hawk or eagle , here, with claws outstretched – but of course birds developed from lizards, and the dragon is king of all lizards.
For those of more prosaic turn of mind, A is the terminal point of the column, forming a sort of dunce cap shaped anther cap and where you would expect the dragons mouth to be, on the underside the pollinia are accessible . C and D are the three sepals ( what a boring word – sepals ! ) B is the sticky surface where the pollen is to land – can’t think of the right word for that, at present. I suppose all those tendrils are to “throw” the bee, as it homes in, make it swerve to avoid the goalposts, as it were, so as to deliver the pollen from another flower into the right place. What an amazing thing these flowers are !
I amused myself with all the nonsense abiove, and also surprised myself in dissecting the flower, since my sight is deteriorating daily – I am five weeks into the necessary 12 week space between the two operations, first to repair the retinal damage, then to replace the lens – which should restore my sight to better than before. Can’t wait ! since it is having a very inhibiting effect on all my life , even worse than it might have been since my wife is now hardly capable of walking and can’t drive – she is booked into hospital for an operation ( hip joint replacement) in 3 weeks time. The problems of old age…but at least we can console each other.
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to both you and you wife, hope the recoveries are smooth and uneventful.
