Unfinished business: Farfugium japonicum 'Crested Leopard' flowers

Some time ago, I noted that we had a Farfugium japonicum come in, that subsequently developed buds, and that I was excited to see how the flowers were going to look when they finally opened.

To say I am disappointed would be an understatement.


This isn't really the plant's fault, though. Besides the fact that it's a really crappy picture (for which I accept full blame), the buds got all weird and twisted as they opened because of, get this, thrips.

Thrips! The one plant pest I thought I would never have to worry about! The one plant pest I figured was too ineffectual to ever be a real problem for me!

[sigh]

I tried to get pictures of the thrips themselves, but they're very small, and very fast: consequently, they are usually very blurry. One of our blooming plant suppliers (not the tropicals from Florida, though the tropicals often have their own problems) brings them to us, I think.

If you're interested in seeing what the flowers are supposed to look like, check out this post at Tales From the Microbial Laboratory. Much prettier. The flowers do have a smell, by the way. The smell smells more or less like my picture looks: kind of unpleasant and deformed. I would like to be able to blame the thrips for this too, but I suspect that's probably just how they're supposed to smell.