January 14, 2005

A look at some 'oddities' of the plant kingdom

By Shari Kaplan
Staff Writer

By Shari Kaplan
Editor

January is often a month of ennui. Not only does the holiday season leave many people physically and financially drained, but the clouds are also draining this month, making folks even more likely to mope indoors rather than venture into the cold, wet garden.

Bunya-Bunya trees are large, reptilian-looking conifers whose silhouette is unmistakable. Photograph by Shari Kaplan

I thought this would be a good month to deviate from the usual gardening topics in favor of the more deviant. While that word typically carries a negative connotation, deviant simply means “different than the norm.”

Bunya-Bunya and Monkey Puzzle Trees are a case in point, for several reasons. These are strangely symmetrical conifers that reach 70 to 100 feet tall under optimal conditions. Juvenile foliage on Bunya-Bunya branches is sharp and pointy; once mature, it becomes a bit rounder. Monkey Puzzle foliage never really loses its spiky, reptilian quality.

Both trees look very prehistoric, especially from a distance. A major drawback are the female cones, which can weigh 10 or more pounds and have been known to knock unsuspecting people unconscious. The nuts inside the cones are edible and supposedly even tasty, for those who live to tell the tale!

Monkey Puzzles (Araucaria araucana) are uncommon in the South Bay, but there are many Bunya-Bunyas (Araucaria bidwillii). The best specimen I’ve seen towers over the front lawn of Villa Montalvo in Saratoga. Other good examples live at the Winchester Mystery House, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and San Jose’s Tower Academy, located at McLaughlin Avenue and Sylvia Drive. It’s no coincidence that all are mature trees of similar size; Bunya-Bunyas, as well as Monkey Puzzles, were very trendy back in the Victorian era.

I’ve always thought Dutchman’s pipe vine (Aristolochia genus) looked just plain weird, and that was before I discovered the secret (and scent) of its flared, upright blossoms. More than 300 species exist within the genus, so my observations can’t apply to them all. However, many of the ones popularly called Dutchman’s pipe or calico flower have purplish-brown or reddish-brown blooms with an odor reminiscent of rotting meat, despite their intricately beautiful shape and almost crystalline patterns.

Certain species of Dutchman's Pipe temporarily trap insect pollinators. Photograph by Barry Rice, www.sarracenia.com

While a turn-off to humans, flies and gnats find the stink appealing, and that’s just what the Dutchman’s pipe intended! Once the bugs peek inside, they slip down the floral tube and can’t climb out, due to a waxy film and downward pointing hairs.

This sounds like the traps set by certain carnivorous plants, but the vine has no interest in digesting its visitors. It simply wants to keep them for a while, until they’re thoroughly covered with pollen. Within a day or two (the flower plies the flies with nectar to keep them happy), the “jail hairs” wilt and the flower tilts, allowing the visitor to escape.

The idea is for the flies to repeat the process over and over, thus pollinating as many flowers as possible.

Now for something more palatable! It’s hard to imagine the sweet smell of chocolate coming from a daisy, but Berlandiera lyrata’s common name of “chocolate flower” is definitely appropriate. The unassuming little flower, with pale yellow petals and a brownish-green center, blooms from spring through fall and wafts through the cool morning air like a cup of warm cocoa.

Many orchids in the Oncidium genus have a pleasant fragrance, but it doesn’t get much better than “Sharry Baby,” a hybrid of two other Oncidiums. Whether named for Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons’ “Sherry Baby” or the writer of this column, it’s a very sought-after flower. The usual color combination of its frilly floral sprays is reddish or purplish brown with white. Strangely enough, this portends its fragrance: a delicious mixture of chocolate and vanilla!