Albuca cooperi tepal tips

When turned up to view its face, the flower of Albuca cooperi shows the hinged flaps at the tips of its inner tepals. The two circular, white lobes on each tepal tip seem to serve as gatekeepers, protecting the anthers or maybe vetting would-be pollinators for suitability? Shaped to complicate visitor entry to a flower may enhance the opportunities for depositing pollen.

Only three viable anthers are produced per flower as the outer stamens, the ones in front of the outer tepals, are without anthers or sterile (Manning, 2009; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).