<p><i>Cephalanthus occidentalis</i> flowers.
</p>
<blockquote class="templatequote language">
<p>each spherical item is a 1.3-inch wide
cluster of many flowers. If you look closely at the
white cluster you can see the individual flowers,
which are white and very slender. Each tiny flower
bears at its top four petal-like lobes (sometimes
five), and four stamens (rarely five) protruding from
the corollas. In the picture, the stamens are topped
with very small, oval, brownish anthers, which open to
release pollen. The stiff-looking, white, sticklike
things below the anthers are the stamens' filaments.
</p>
</blockquote>
Jim Conrad
2008-06-23
<p>JIM CONRAD'S NATURALIST NEWSLETTER. Written and issued at the woods edge near Natchez,
Mississippi.
</p>
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