Flowering Sindora!

Buds turn into flowers. These pictures of the Siamese sindora (Sindora siamensis, Fabaceae) was taken yesterday on May 5th, 2013:

Siamese sindora blossom. Photo: Eric Danell

The flowering buds split in four sections and expose three pairs of short male stamens and one pair of longer male stamens. There is one pistil. No showy petals. The fragrance resembles a mix of honey, Norway spruce (Picea abies) and hyacinth. You would only detect the fragrance if you put the nose close to the flowers. Ketsanee and Mika both said the fragrance was appealing, but neither could describe it. I did see some visiting carpenter bees but no masses. I went out again after dark but I only saw one moth. Ants crawled around but I think they come due to the sugary droplets of the sepals. Being on the outside does not help with cross-pollination between trees, but they provide protection against hungry pests. I licked the droplets but they are too tiny to give any sensation.

You can read more about Sindora siamensis here.

In addition to this treat, yesterday’s visitors and Orchid Ark benefactors Allen and Janet Todd from Oregon got nice pictures of the flower  of Strophanthus perakensis:

I updated the previous blog with Allen’s picture and added one of the young fruit.

Ketsanee Seehamongkol and Eric Danell, Dokmai Garden, Chiang Mai