Flowers of Meriania nobilis
Some consider this tree to be the most beautiful flowering tree in the world, as noted by Priscilla in the comments with her photo on Flickr. Meriania nobilis is a small tree (to 15m/49 ft.) native to a narrow elevational range (1900m-2900m) within the central and western Colombian mountains.
iNaturalist contains many additional photographs of amarraboyo, but perhaps the photograph most illustrative of its beauty (at least in a cultivated setting) is from this commercial site: Meriania nobilis via Strange Wonderful Things.
Meriania nobilis was scientifically described and named by the Colombian botanist José Jerónimo Triana in 1873: Meriania nobilis in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. On the topic of Linnaeus, I believe he only had one genus named after him (Linnaea). Meriania, however, is one of two genera–the other being Sibylla–named in honour of the German-born 17-century naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian.
Because of her careful observations and documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly, she is considered by David Attenborough to be among the most significant contributors to the field of entomology
Read more about “The Butterfly Woman“. And, as an aside, the primary pollinators of Meriania nobilis are bees.
Is it just me, or do others see the twisting array of the corolla as slightly reminiscent of Plumeria?
beautiful inflorescence!
Priscilla has posted several other very nice photos of this tree on her flickr account – here are query results for it on her photostream: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=65434132%40N04&view_all=1&text=Meriania%20nobilis
I love how the flowers look like they are outlined in pen, on most photos, not just on the photo here where you can see that. And the colour combination with the buds and the aging flowers is wonderful.
What a beautiful flower!
Is this related to Tibuchina ? Rita.
Hello Rita,
Yes, they are in the same family, but they are not extremely closely related within the family.
The leaves are as interesting as the flowers! In the commercial site, from the link given above, there is even information on germinating the seeds and growing it. It blooms all year in the right condition. Lovely flowers!
~Trella
Spectacular and beautiful flowers, but not a very elegant tree from the example in the link. I am not familiar with tropical trees but Clerodendrum trichotomum and some of the Bignoniaceae are far prettier trees, though their flowering season is more limited.
Yes, related to Tibouchina – notice the similar stamens, reminiscent of a spider, some say……..