Four receptive Fireweed stigmas / Epilobium angustifolium

A pretty sight, I think, when looking at a Fireweed flower very closely. Saw this one when I was on a walk at Clearwater Park two days ago.

"Coming to a newly opened (Fireweed) flower, a bee finds abundant pollen on the anthers and a sip of nectar in the cup below. At this stage the flower keeps its still immature style curved downward and backward lest it should become self-fertilized - an evil ever to be guarded against by ambitious plants. In a few days, or after the pollen has been removed, up stretches the style, spreading its four receptive stigmas just where an in-coming bee, well dusted from a younger flower, must certainly leave some pollen on their sticky surfaces." From chestofbooks.com/flora-plants/flowers.