Banana Flowers, Spider, and Sunrise

I love to look at banana flowers.   Sets of flowers open sequentially on a long pendant inflorescence   The female flowers are at the top of the inflorescence (closest to the plant) and they open first.  Male flowers open later at the bottom.   Our banana plants are not a commercial variety because they are not big producers, but they are the best tasting bananas I have ever eaten.  They have a tanginess that reminds Dennis of an apple, and indeed, their local name is apple banana.

 

The dark purple, almost black, bracts that cover the sets of yellow male flowers are glossy on one side and matte on the other.

Close-up of male flowers with 2 busy wasps.

I also saw a nice garden/writing-type spider on the shell ginger.  It sat nicely in the center of its web while I took these shots.

 

 

I'll end with the way my day began yesterday, with another lovely sunrise.

 

A pelican begins its day of flying and fishing. Not a bad life.