"Monstera Deliciosa blooming its flower/fruit" : macro close-up n. III, shot in natural daylight ©WhiteAngel Photography

            Another shot, focused on the flower/fruit of my Monstera Deliciosa (fam. Aracae, gen. Philodendron). 
This photo has been rotated  90° counterclockwise to let better see the prints left by the grainy flakes of the spadix, touching the inner side of the monopetal back when the flower was still closed. 
The flower is naturally leaning, especially due to its weight & lenght (13,5 cm till the beginning of the peduncle while the stem is even longer).
The grains are in an exagonal shape and distributed in perfect geometric order all around the spadix from the tiniest flakes below to the largest ones at the apex. Their colour after the blossoming turned rapidly from light greenish to chalk white to then return greenish more and more after one week from blooming, when the outer petal dried out and its candid white vanished in a brown colour. 
In this photo: the flower in a shape of a sort of oblong abalone shell after two days from the beginning of its blossoming (opening),  on the day when it physically turned to be white. The visible tiny dark dots, accenting any of the many modular flakes, similar to micro dark spots in the size of pin heads, are the extremities of the internal lamellae, another complicated parts, anyone piercing every single grain of the spadix (the inside fruit, vaguely resembling a corn cob, containing its seeds).
This plant is self-pollinating. Where it is not endemic as in the  apartment indoor or even outdoor variety, it propagates and can be transplanted per "talea" by manually cutting its derivations including one leaf at least and possibly some of its numerous roots. 
It can be done, by the most expert ones, even with the grafting "margotta" technique.
This plant continuously grows, strenghtening itself, with steady but slow appearance of new leaves that spread out getting bigger and bigger, with the production of new sprouts and derivations, new roots, (both in the ground and aerial) siking for the necessary humidity.
I will talkabout the roots and how to handle them in a post or two later on in the year.

So basically, this heavenly flower takes around 45 days to appear firstly as a bud and then as a flower with its monopetal (which in reality is a modified leaf) growing and becoming very thick and turning from the initial light green colour of the bud to the chalk white of the flower. The bud looses its chlorophyll and what initially seems to be a thick closed leaf turns into white appearing as a flower in all its splendour. 
Once blossomed, it leasts 7 days, then the inside fruit in the shape of a spadix carries on growing. 
It takes at least 12 months for the grains and pulp of the spadix to metabolize the sugars and to become edible with a very sweet taste. Many books report even 15 months for a total maturation, depending on the climate. But I can't grant it as it's too soon for my Monstera to give evidences of this assertion.
Which taste? I dunno yet, it's said in the books it's a delicious one, partially similar to pineapple with a aftertaste of bananas (?)
This is likely to happen in tropical Countries but my flower appeared in a cold temperate alpine habitat. I doubt the fruit will ever completelly ripen.
Descriptions and phases will carry on in the months, accordingly to the modifications of the plant growing, and the fruit & seeds ripening or not in the cold weather where this plant has amazingly produced its first and rare flower that usually never appear at these latitudes...


Ref. Paradise Flower close-up III 028 (macro), photographed in outdoor studio in natural afternoon daylight.
 #AtmosphericPhotography by #WhiteANGEL

©WhiteAngel Photography. All rights reserved for both the text and the photos.
   

Taken on: August 17, 2021

Tags:

Monstera deliciosa

Monstera

flower

fruit

white

equinox

Autumn

fall

macro

macro photography

MacroFlowerLovers

naturaleza

natural

nature

Natura

naturale

natural light

Natura viva

#Weiß

bianco

blanc

blanco

exceptional

extraordinary

magic

mystic

mysterious

fiore

fleur

Blume

Frucht

frutto

spadix

spadice

petalo

petal

foglia

feuille

leaf

philodendron

filodendro

#AtmosphericPhotography

#PURENN

#NaturePhotographyUnmanipulated

#NaturalPureNature

documentary

avantgarde

Fine Art

Fine Arts Photography

flakes

grains

seeds

propagation

transplant

Art

Arte

unique

rare « less

Sets appears in: • Atmospheric Photography • Art of NATURE

Groups appears in: • Macro Studies • Nature Photography more » • Flower Close-Ups • Macros Group • > MACRO ~ MAKRO < - opted out / no 30/60 group limit • The Beauty of Nature • NATURE'S BEST • Artistic Integrity.... • Official National Geographic Group • Fine Art Photography™ • "World Nature & Wildlife Closeup" Post 1/C3 • National Geographic | World Wide • Sunsets, Landscapes and Flowers. • Macro and patterns • Flower Beauty ! • National Geographic Society • Nature's Gallery (Post 1 / Award 3) • AVANT-GARDE ART • Flower Flower Flower • flowers fineArts • Macro & Close up Photography • Macro in nature • High Class Photography (invite only) • !*Natures Beauty*! • Fotos with high quality • Thy Magazine — Submit your work! • !!! !"COLORS ON BLACK"! !!! post 1 - award 3 • Das Lichtbild - Painting With Light - Spectrum Of Possibilities • Art of the Flower • 質Natural PURE Nature #PURENN (unmanipulated Photography) « less

Stats: 5,583 views / 37 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: