Two Beauty's Catching the Morning Sun

It has been a lovely warm day and I would have loved to go for a walk but I wanted to do more work in the garage... still lots more to do yet!

I noticed the Alstroemeria looked so beautiful in the morning light I had to get a shot.

Alstroemeria, commonly called the Peruvian Lily of Lily of the Incas or Parrot Lily is a South American genus of about 50 species of flowering plants, mainly from the cool, mountainous regions in the Andes.

Alstroemeria flower is symbolic of wealth, prosperity and fortune. It is also the flower of friendship.

Alstroemeria is a slightly zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical) flower with 3 sepals and 3, generally, striped petals. The sepals and petals on the Alstroemeria are similar in color and texture - i.e., there are no solid green sepals. Alstroemeria has six stamens and an undivided style. The ovary on the Alstroemeria is inferior, with 3 carpels. Alstroemeria features a monocot plan of having floral parts in 3s.

Alstroemeria is more like grass where the veins go up the leaves but none branching across. Alstroemeria's are upside down. The leaf twists as it leaves the stem, so that the bottom is facing upwards.

If you look at an Alstroemeria stem you can sometimes see a spiral growth pattern on the stem. This is due to the production of new cells in a spiral sequence and this is the cause of the head moving the way it does.
For more information on Alstroemeria's