It appears to me that there is a long corolla tube behind the cup. If nectar is produced deep within this tube, as would be expected, then moths do seem to be the most likely pollinators. The distance between the anthers and stigma is not so great to rule out sphinx moth pollination. The moth may need to do a lot of close maneuvering to get its tongue deep enough into the flower to get the nectar, so even though they are quite elegant at hovering, it is likely to touch against the anthers and receive a dusting of pollen. Then as it approaches the next flower, it bumps into the stigma that is sticking out prominently in front, leaving some of the pollen there. Bill On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 10:17 PM, Kenneth <k.preteroti@verizon.net> wrote: > Diana I beg to differ. I would not think moth pollination. White flower, night blooming, scented, Yes moths but also bats. I may have wrote it poorly, bad punctuation etc. but what I thought i said as the bat would plunge its head into the flower to get at the nectar the pollen would rub onto its face and body. Then when moving onto the next flower that pollen would attach to the protruding stigma of that flower. Pictures on the PBS site do not show a long tube indicating moth pollination. Check out the first picture by Hans and the first picture by Nhu. Since my plants are month old seedlings I have no personal experience with the flowers only other peoples pictures. Both their pictures appear to show to my eyes a floral cup not a tube. Perfect for a bat to lap up nectar. The large flower and distance between the anthers an space between the anthers and stigma would make bee or small insect pollination unlikely. Not that moths would not visit the flower I just cannot see ho > w a moth would transfer the pollen onto the stigma that is so far away. 20-25 cm floral tube? 8-10 inches is that correct? Like to see a cross section of the flower. Where are the nectaries? > > Ken > > Sent from my iPad > >> On Aug 12, 2014, at 8:40 PM, Diana Chapman <rarebulbs@suddenlink.net> wrote: >> >> Most pollinators are seeking nectar, not pollen, and nectar is usually produced from nectaries at the base of the petal. They get zapped by the pollen quite incidentally. I am not sure what the pollinator is for this species, but similar species with long tubes that are night blooming and white are pollinated by moths, and there are such specialized moths with tongues that can reach that far. >> >> Diana >> Telos >>> I was reading the account of Pamianthe on the wiki, and I saw something which does not make sense to me. >>> The wiki account states "The flowering tube is an amazing 20-25 cm long, and must need a very specialized pollinator." >>> >>> But the stigma and anthers are in fact close together in this species (as in most amaryllids), and most pollinators should have no trouble moving from one to the other. >>> >>> What the extreme length of the flowering tube requires is pollen which can grow from the stigma to the ovary 20-25 cm away. >>> >>> We need to fix this. Since I have not worked on the wiki in a long time, will someone else take this on? >>> >>> Jim McKenney >>> Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, now nervously counting my Pamianthe chicks as they hatch. >>> _______________________________________________ >>> pbs mailing list >>> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >>> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >>> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ --