White False Indigo, More

Bumble Bee on White False Indigo

We were talking recently about the White False Indigo.  The next time at Gorman I observed this bumble bee at the plant.

I decided to take a closer look at an individual blossom.  The idea popped into my mind as I watched the bee.  

This is the bee's eye view while coming in for a landing. I think that I can see its target.  My next question was, "Where are the reproductive parts?"  It looked like the bee had pollen on him.  At this point I touched the bloom and squeezed the vertical part at the bottom.

Look what I found!  The bee must somehow open this while drinking nectar.

These individual blooms occur in a sequence from bottom to top on the stem.  I think that the stem continues to grow at the terminal end revealing more and more sites for blossoms.  Anyway, the most mature ones are at the bottom.

I might have mentioned earlier that the blossoms look to me like garden pea blossoms.  It has been a while since I have seen pea blossoms, though.  Anyway, I found myself wondering if they tasted like peas.  I tried tasting one from the center of the stem.  The initial taste experience was bitter, somewhat similar to that of a pea pod.  The after taste was, however; a continued bitter taste.  Garden peas give a sweet taste.  I have tried the most immature pods and they give a taste less bitter.  I found them quite palatable.  They never give the sweet after taste, though.  I probably should have checked to make sure it was safe to taste the pods but I did not.  I have tried tasting them on two days running and show no ill effects. 

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