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In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen. [ 1 ] [ page needed ] Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the corolla.
Stamen is the Latin word meaning "thread" (originally thread of the warp, in weaving). [8]Filament derives from classical Latin filum, meaning "thread" [8]; Anther derives from French anthère, [9] from classical Latin anthera, meaning "medicine extracted from the flower" [10] [11] in turn from Ancient Greek ἀνθηρά (anthērá), [9] [11] feminine of ἀνθηρός (anthērós) meaning ...
The flower has a spherical or urn-shaped corolla opening at the top into a narrow mouth edged with hoodlike lobes. The corolla is roughly 1–1.5 centimetres (0.39–0.59 in) long and is greenish tinged with brown or dull pink. The wide staminode is generally visible in the mouth of the corolla.
A prominent, often hairy, staminode is the most distinctive feature of this genus, as in these Penstemon eriantherus var. whitedii flowers. They have opposite leaves, partly tube-shaped, and two-lipped flowers and seed capsules. [5] The most distinctive feature of the genus is the prominent staminode, an infertile stamen. [6]
The staminode is 8–9 mm long, but does not extend beyond the throat of the flower, and is sparsely to moderately covered in shaggy yellow hairs 1 mm long the end approaching the flower's mouth. [10] The staminode can be either straight or recurved. The style is generally 9–11 mm in length, but occasionally is as long as 13 mm. [4]
They are characterised by the slipper-shaped pouches (modified labella) of the flowers – the pouch traps insects so they are forced to climb up past the staminode, behind which they collect or deposit pollinia, thus fertilizing the flower. There are approximately 165 species in the subfamily. [citation needed]
The calyx and corolla are 5-lobed, but the lobes of the corolla are grouped into two "lips" - the upper one made of two of the lobes and the lower one of the other three, which are almost fused. The flowers are bisexual with 4 fertile stamens and 1 sterile staminode, which is distinctively 2-lobed.
The flowers are hairless with two lips that have projecting round to egg shaped lobes. The flowers are bright red to orange-red. [3] Like the rest of the flower the staminode is hairless and will extend out of the flower's opening, it is 13 to 14 millimeters long overall. Flowering takes place from February to as late as July.