Featuring the Bat plant : Regular random 5 minutes

The white batflower (Tacca integrifolia) is the most unusual flower in our garden. It has just produced its third flowering of this season and I spent 5 minutes capturing its strangeness to join Desleyjane in her weekly challenge “regular random”.

As you can see this is one plant that I have left in a pot and it loves it in this shady corner being watched over by a rather elfin looking Buddha.

It might look like a normal plant, right up until it starts to flower. When it does, the plant unfurls some of the strangest and most amazing flowers in the plant kingdom. Beneath the clusters of purplish flowers hang long bracts that can reach a foot in length, like whiskers. Above the flowers flare two light colored bracts like bat wings.Look at the beautiful purple veining through the top bracts that give it a distinctive bat-like look.

The dark purple flowering parts cluster together below the bracts.The flowers can last for weeks and certainly stops people in their tracks when they first see it.

The leaves are a rich vibrant green and quite tough and leathery. It is also a favourite of mine because it never seems to have any problems and only asks for occasional watering during dry periods.

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Would you like to join in the RegularRandom brigade? Here’s how:

• choose a subject or a scene
• spend five minutes photographing it – no more!
• try to not interfere with the subject, instead see it from many angles, look through something at it, change the light that’s hitting it
• have fun! (sure did!)
• tag your post #regularrandom and ping back to this post

This week DJ has given a beautiful, delicate air plant the 5 minute treatment. Don’t know what an air plant is? well go over to DJ’s post to find out.