Subject: Re: Black flowers

From: Richard <[email-masked]>
Date: 1 May 1995 08:16:53 GMT

[email-masked] (Jeffrey Kirby) wrote:
>In reality there really is no such thing as a black flower, short of a 
>painted one. Not to my knowledge. There are flowers that are very 
close, 
>though, including at least one orchid hybrid (it's a Catasetum that I 
>don't remember the cross - made by someone at G.E.M. Orchids, I think - 
>it was a pink crossed with a red, and I think Ctsm. Rebecca Northen was 
>the pink) which has so much red pigment that it appeared black. It even 
>got a special award from the American Orchid Society Judges there for 
the 
>blackest orchid they had ever seen. You can find an article in the AOS 
>Bulletin from a few years back with a picture - I'll try to find the 
>reference later and post it. One other "black" flower I have seen was 
>about 5 years ago in the stock fields of a violet breeder. Real dark 
>purples will get into the "black" range - and they truly appear black. 
>About black tulips, that I don't know. And other than that one black 
>orchid, that's mostly a myth about finding black orchids, although I 
hear 
>there is a mystery series in which the hero collects black orchids 
>(again, fiction). 
>
>Hope it helps - I'll post the reference later.
>
>-J
>
>-----------------------------                                      
-----
>        Jeffrey A. Kirby -- Jester of Xanadu -- [email-masked]
>
>Life is like a nebulous signature file.

A flower native to the Kimberley region of Western Australia has what 
seems to be a truly (but not wholly) Black flower.  It is a pea flower 
and has a 'tongue' of white or yellow, depending on the strain.  It is a 
vigourous and hardy climber that grows well in temperate regions.
The name is Kennedia nigricans and is available widely in nurseries in 
Australia.  I have one growing in my fence currently where it covers 
quite an area.
Regards
Richard Harrison
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

---

From: [email-masked] (Andrea Via)
Date: 1 May 1995 19:21:09 GMT

Gavin Inglis ([email-masked]) wrote:
: Apologies if this is an inappropriate place for this question; I can't
: find an FAQ and my knowledge of biology extends about as far as the
: difference between vertebrates and invertebrates.

: I'm writing a bit of fiction, and for a pivotal scene I'd like to include
: a black flower, probably with black petals and a green stalk. There is 
: some significance in the combination of colours. 

: I didn't expect to stumble across one in the street, exactly, but I spent
: an afternoon in the library with a big stack of weird and wonderful flowery
: books and couldn't find anything. Very dark brown was about as close as I
: got.

: I have a dim fear that no such thing exists despite half-informed opinions
: heard about black tulips and black orchids. 

: If anybody could put me straight on this point, I'd be real pleased,
: especially if it's something a person in (say) Edinburgh could obtain.
: If you have a picture on-line, I would probably fall over with gratitude.

: Thanks folks.

: Gavin.

I have several "black" bearded irises in my yard at home as well as 
tulips.  Both are actually a very dark purple.  The tulips look more 
black than the irises, but still have a definite purple tinge to them.  
I've found that the tulips will look more black than purple depending on 
the type of soil and light conditions they have.  Not sure any of that 
helps, but thought I'd add my two cents.
						Andrea

---

From: Nancy Harrison <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 5 May 95 07:36:03 -0500

Gavin, I have growing in my yard a patch of Black Calla Lilies,
very sinister-looking, with black (very deep purple, actually)
spathes (the petal part) and thick green stalks.  Like many
"black" flowers they are fly-pollinated.  They have a noxious
odor of decay, which attracts the flies to them, where they are
trapped in the bottom of the spathe, and must struggle out,
thereby picking up pollen from the spadix (central sexual
organ)  and transferring it to the pistillate parts.  This is
the kind of flower that would do well in horror stories!   The
genus is Arum (don't know the species). -Nan in Calif.