Monday, April 17, 2006

Peace Lily Flower

I'm not a good gardener, so I try to buy plants that don't need much care. I bought a Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum Gioant) for my office at the university, because I needed a plant that would flourish without much light. It had one flowering stem when I bought it in December 2004. (I thought it was a single flower, but today I learned that it wasn't - see below.)

When I retired last June, I brought the plant home. This is how it looked on August 30, 2005.

At the beginning of April, it bloomed again. The Peace Lily's bloom consists of a spadix (a type of spike: an inflorescense with small flowers crowded on a thickened, fleshy axis). It is partially enclosed by a spathe (a large bract).

April 7, 2006

The spathe is gradually getting greener and the spadix, which contains the true flowers, is getting darker.

April 16, 2006

This bloom sticks out several inches above the leaves.

6 comments:

robin andrea said...

I've never thought to photograph our two Peace Lily plants. I'm so glad you did. They are quite beautiful.

Cyn Bagley said...

Beautiful. Glad you had a lovely weekend. My hubby is the gardner in our family. I water the plants, but he tells me how to do it. LOL

Pam in Tucson said...

rd- I was intrigued with the structure, but never thought to look question it until I was putting this post together. Really interesting - and the structure is beautiful, isn't it?

cynthia - Lucky you to have a husband gardner. Neither of us garden, although we both love gardens, so now it's up to me to learn.

Mary said...

What lovely photographs, Pam. The shapes and colours here are extraordinary. I have a peace lily too and I will look at it all the more attentively having been inspired by your post .... thank you.

And thank you too for your kind comments on my blog.

Endment said...

My plants are getting old - very old - nearly old enough to vote :) they tolerate corners without adequate light and still continue to thrive. I just recently discovered thttp://www.aspca.org/toxicplants/M01912.htmhey can be toxic to pets

Your photos are lovely

Pam in Tucson said...

mary - One of the joys of digital photography is being able to enlarge a photo and see detail that I don't notice with my own eyes. There's so much of interest in the macro world. Whenver I visit your blog, I get an opportunity to go home to England - a real treat!

endment - I'm happy to learn that Peace Lilies have that kind of longevity. You must be very kind to them. Thanks for the warning about toxicity for pets. We don't have any pets at the moment, but I'll let my children and friends know.