page_title: Pilea cadierei
section_title: Inflorescence and fruit
hierarchical_section_title: Pilea cadierei / Description / Inflorescence and fruit
caption_attribution_description: English: Pilea cadierei (Aluminium plant) flower
context_page_description: Pilea cadierei, the aluminium plant or watermelon pilea, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to China and Vietnam. The specific epithet cadierei refers to the 20th-century botanist R.P. Cadière. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
context_section_description: The flowering period in China ranges from September to November. Pilea cadierei is single-sex, separated (monoecious). The male, compact, heady inflorescences contain 5 to 125 flowers on 1.5 to 4 cm long inflorescence stems. The bracts are broadly ovoid with a length of about 3 millimeters. The flower stems of the male flowers are 2 to 3 millimeters long and the flower buds are pear-shaped with a length of about 2.5 millimeters. The relatively small, white-pink flowers are fourfold. The male flowers have a length of 2.5 to 3 millimeters and a diameter of 1.8 to 2 millimeters. The four boat-shaped, about 3 millimeter long bracts male flowers grow together up to half their length and cartilaginous in the upper area. The four stamens protrude beyond the chalice and "explode" when shaken. The female flowers are almost seated in the cymose inflorescences. In the female flowers a rudimentary conical carpel is present in each case. With a length of 0.5 to 0.7 millimeters, the durable bracts of the female flowers are half as long as the nut fruit. In the female flowers there is usually only an upstanding fruit leaf and elongated staminodes. The female flowers have a simple style.
  The fruits ripen in China between November and December. The nut fruits are always lonely and are egg-shaped and flattened at a length of about 1.5 millimeters. The seeds contain endosperm and a straight embryo with two oval-elliptical or circular cotyledons.
caption: A pair of inflorescences.
exif: {"Image Make": "CASIO COMPUTER CO.,LTD.", "Image Model": "EX-Z700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.4.5", "Image DateTime": "2008:12:21 16:10:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "276", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, 22, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 16, 128, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "43/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:12:21 16:47:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:12:21 16:47:40", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "14/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "31/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1468", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1026", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "738", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0/0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}