Aspidistra flowers are usually borne at soil level and may need to be partially excavated to see them properly. Particularly with a new plant of unknown flowering season it is necessary to watch for the flowers developing as, depending on species and treatment, they may appear almost at any time of the year. In many species the flowers are sombrely coloured so they are easily overlooked but in others they are vivid and with 6 to 14 lobes they can resemble little stranded starfish or sea anemones. In a small number of species the flowers are held well above the ground.
Very little is known about Aspidistra pollination biology. The rarity of fruits in cultivation may be due to lack of pollinators or pollinizers, or both. It would be interesting to know the origin of the great myth associated with Aspidistra flowers, that slugs and snails pollinate them. They do not. Research in Japan has shown that tiny terrestrial crustaceans called amphipods are responsible for pollinating Aspidistra elatior. Australian amphipods have also been shown to pollinate introduced Aspidistra sp. and collembolans may also be implicated. Fungus gnats have also been suggested as possible pollinators. An obvious scent has been reported only for a few species (A. campanulata, A. patentiloba, A. stricta).
citat din:
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Elena