Do you like an odd flower?

This is so strange that I found it hard to believe, but I can't disprove it and I did find a second picture. Click on first image.

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Mikek

Reply to
amdx
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Definitely strange-looking from the human way of thinking.

When I look at the color and form elements that make up the "face" - attention-getting spots, contrasting colors, and a lower "face" with color veins aiming inwards towards the "nose" where pollen and nectar would be found - I do find it believable. The same sort of patterns exist in many different types of flower (orchids among others) in different combinations and with different details. They seem to have co-evolved along with the insects (bees and wasps and flies and etc.) or bats or birds which pollenate these flowers, and serve the role of guiding pollenators to the Good Stuff... thus feeding the pollenators and pollenating the plants. "Come this way, and land right here!"

In a way, it's sort of the consequence of the laws of big and small numbers. There are only so many ways that a given set of design patterns could be generally arranged, and so having two different systems (e.g. the face of a primate, and the shape of a flower) end up with the same overall arrangements of visual elements is pretty much inevitable given enough time and enough flowers.

Reply to
David Platt

Here's another one that looks like a monkey, not quite as good, but still very good.

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6 more that look like animals.

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Mikek

Reply to
amdx

It is even stranger if you happen to be the sort of bee that attempts to mate with it. Orchids are exceptionally good at tricking insects into pollenating them and have evolved very sophisticated methods.

It is only by chance that we see the face of a minature primate. The target insect sees a hot female sat on a flower with two black eyes.

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Regards, 
Martin Brown
Reply to
Martin Brown

And it's in Wikipedia, so it MUST be real:

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Tim Wescott 
Wescott Design Services 
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Reply to
Tim Wescott

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