Tonight I noticed a small bud on Moving Pictures that has opened at the top with black stuff sticking out. I don't see too well and I didn't know if it was a fungus or what. When I touched the black stuff, it was hard. This bud is small and the other buds on this scape are not close to opening. In fact, this daylily has not bloomed here at all. The scapes were cut when I received it. The black things look like lots of black shiny seeds. Is this possible? How - it hasn't bloomed?



This next photo was taken from a different angle and you can see that the bud has split and these shiny black things are all lined up like little seeds. Sorry, it is a little blurry. When you harvest a seed pod you see a few black seeds and a lot of immature seeds that didn't develop. It is like every one of the seeds in this bud have already developed. If these are not seeds, what could they be? Have you ever seen anything like this?

From what I can see it looks like something black got dropped on the bud. Not sure what it could be, maybe bird poo. But I have never seen bird poo look quite like that though.

It almost looks like roofing tar. Very strange.

It definitely is not bird poo. The inside of the bud is just these black round, hard, shiny things. Their volume has caused the bud to break open. They really look like seeds that are all squished together and are hard, like seeds. Gee, if they are seeds, who's the daddy????

Have you opened the bud completely? or is it still on the scape?

It is still on the scape. It is already open down one side from the sheer volume of the "seeds". All I see are more of the same. I'll take a magnifier out there tomorrow and take a closer look. I just noticed these this evening.

It will be interesting to see what on the inside once it's opened. Maybe you could take more photos of it later.

Well, now I am so intrigued. Maybe it is a deformity. Being black, hard, and shiny would
appear to be seeds. Strange things can happen. Other than that, it may be a fungus smut-
type critter, though I doubt that would be hard or shaped like seeds. Maybe a reaction from
a chemical caused a deformity, and maybe it did not need a daddy. Very curious.

I found more of the black stuff down in a bract below where the weird bud is. I was able to take out one of the round black "things". It wasn't plump, but looked like a dried up immature seed. It gets weirder and weirder!

That is really interesting and odd!!! Take a cross section picture for all of us inquiring minds -- also what about the bud next to it ???-- it looks like it has a black dot on the side of it.

Ive had that on buds and pods from time to time but its always just been a nearby flower that had died and stuck to it. I have purple globs all over my desk from where I bring the flowers in and when they die at night they like ooze dye the color of the flower.

The black you are seeing in the photos is tangible black seed like things, not something that has oozed on it or was pooped on it. They are like BB's and are very hard to the touch and they have ripped open the bud. There is nothing in the bud except these black things, and there are a lot of them. On the adjacent bud where you see one black thing, well, that is another one of these seed like things that has already torn open the bud at that place. I took out a magnifier today and looked closely. I took a lot more photos but didn't get anything better than I have already posted. I am going to watch it for a few days and I will keep trying to get better photos. I am just fascinated by whatever it is doing and appreciate all your input.

Eeek!!! Is it some alien creature??? Ha!

Ann, that is indeed very weird. I did a web search to see if anything
like this had happened before, but found nothing. I would love to know
what caused a flower bud to develop seeds.

So my biologist mind came up with two theories....one is its some sort of bug larvae (yuck) or maybe its some sort of deformity caused by some sort of over or under abundance of a mineral? Or too much fertilizer?

Please post a picture so we can see the inside stuff.

Any possibility a chemical got spilled on it that is causing the growths?

Ann - I have one scape with buds covered in that black stuff too. Interesting since we both live in the same area. I've never seen anything like it either. I was thinking it was a fungus.

Debraud

The black shiny beady looking stuff had pushed through the top of the bud and now the outside "skin" of the bud is growing, trying to close again. I am just observing every day, totally fascinated.

ROFL It doesn't take much to amuse us huh?

Ann - I broke my black veiled buds off, thinking they wouldn't bloom right with that stuff growing all over them. I look forward to hearing your updates though.

Debra