My Schlumbergera
Schlumbergera flower round Easter in the southern hemisphere . . . . i.e. March/April. These have longer flowers than their cousins, the rhipsalidopsis;
flowers that almost look like one flower pushed up inside another (or a truncated flower).
These flowers have adapted their shape for hummingbird pollination (unfortunately we do not have these delightful little birds in New Zealand).
They also have clawlike points on the sections of leaf (if you can call it a leaf).
The plants that we buy these days from the nurseries and garden shops are all hybrids but in nature after the flowers are pollinated berries form that take 13 months to ripen. These berries do not split open on their own but rely on the wildbirds to eat them and distribute the seed in their droppings. The seeds do not appear to be affected by digestion.
Alice
Althena - June 2003
On to the next Page
