I wanted to talk about plant form and function and the information you can gather about the environment once you learn about the plants in your area.
The plant on the top is a species from the Cyanea genus. What can be inferred from the curved flower is that the pollinator is something that can reach the nectar while effectively pollinating at the same time. When you look at local fauna, there are only a hand full of birds that have coevolved those curved beaks. The brighter leaf colors also indicate that it grows in a shaded area not burdened by constant sun. The fruits are small and black meaning that it's easily dispersable by a smaller animal, I actually don't know what animal disperses this fruit, I want to say a bird.
The last 3 plants share similar traits that have the same function. The first 2 images are Sesbania tomentosa and the 3rd image is vitex rotundifolia. Both these plants look silver/pale in color due to the thick amount of hairs on the leaves. The various hairs slow down gas exchange from the pores (stomata) within the leaf, essentially slowing down evaporation and conserving water. This is because the environment these plants thrive in are in the heat and the sun.
Another trait shared by these 2 plants are the shape of the flowers, having that lip part on the bottom typically means that these are bee pollinated. For vitex rotundifolia, the lip provides an area for the bee to land while it collects pollen and nectar on the inside. Theres also nectar guidelines (the white coloration amongst the purple) that help lead the bees to the correct place. For Sesbania tomentosa, the lip is referred to as the "keel" of the flower. What happens is when a bee lands on the keel, the keel opens up to reveal the anthers (male organ) and pistil (female organ) of the plant and puts all the pollen onto the bee's body while the bee is getting nectar. This is characteristic of all flowers shaped like this.
This is an example of an Exoneura bee triggering an Aotus flower's keel to open. Notice how the reproductive parts are exposed when the bee lands and now it gets to collect the pollen. (Not native to where I live, I believe this is from Australia.) If interested heres the website I pulled the photo from:
Different bees use different strategies when it comes to tackling a pea flower.
Moral of the story is that you can learn a lot about the environment, the climate, and the animals that pollinate or predate the plant once you learn about plant form and function.
