illbottleyourbrush

=Welcome, I'll Bottle Your Brush=
 * Members:** David, Alan, Sharna & Meghann

**Genus:** //Callistemon//

 * Common Name:** Bottle Brush

Pollination and Fertilisation


The male structures of the Bottle Brush are located in the stamen. They are the main part of the flower where the stamens are longer than the petals itself. Female structures are located in the carpel. Which is located inside the flower, under the petals. The stigma is slightly longer than the stamens. Because the flowers have both the male and female organs, it is considered a 'perfect' or bisexual flower, these organs are found on the same flower. The female organs of the flower are; the stigma, the style and the ovary whilst the male organs are the anthers and the filament. Formation of the seed, forms after the zygote is fertilized in the ovary. It forms a tough, lignified structured seed and requires heat, such as bush fires, or the death of the parent plant to germinate. The flower produces fruits that contain hundreds of seeds and are usually not released from the fruit for several years.







Variability of Floral Morphology
There are usually 5 petals and are approximately 6-8mm long, and approximately 4-5mm in width, callipers were used to measure the length and width of these petals. There are many stamens and are approximately 26-30mm long, again, callipers were used to measure the length. The stamens are long and birds with long beaks can get to the nectar of the flower. The Bottle Brush is a shrub and is structured to support the weight of birds and small mammals that forage for nectar, with the physical adaptation of woody stems and branches.The flower is arranged at a right angle to the stem. The average length of the stamen= 27.4mm and the standard deviation of the length of the stamen= 3.1mm. As opposed to other flowers, the colourful stamens are the main feature of the flower, not the petal itself. This plant is known for its colourful stamens which attract birds.
 * Sepal Width (mm) || Sepal Length (mm) || Stamen Length (mm) ||
 * 4.5 || 6.3 || 30.2 ||
 * 4.2 || 6.7 || 26.5 ||
 * 5.1 || 9.2 || 34.2 ||
 * 3.8 || 5.7 || 28.9 ||
 * 3.4 || 5.9 || 27.7 ||
 * 4.9 || 8.5 || 29.0 ||
 * 4.2 || 7.0 || 24.3 ||
 * 3.7 || 6.9 || 28.9 ||
 * 5.6 || 7.4 || 24.7 ||
 * 4.3 || 6.4 || 26.5 ||



Pollen Morphology
The pollen forms on the tip of the filament, on the anther. It is usually a bright yellow colour found on the tip of the anther. Pollen grain sticks to the stigma, where the grain releases a tube into the style and sperm travels in the tube, down to the ovary which then fertilises the ovum and forms a zygote and develops into a fruit that contain hundreds of seeds.

Nectar Characterisation
Usually there is approximately 40 micrometres of nectar in each flower, which can be collected and measured in a capillary tube. In the current flower, there is not enough nectar and it appears to have been consumed already. Therefore, usually there is more nectar present in flowers, however, we could not collect enough to measure the sugar content in the flower.