Soft red, fuzzy Chenille Plant (Plumbago auriculata) blooms are all male. The female blooms are inconspicuous. Perhaps more interesting, the male blooms have no petals! So to be pollinated the plant uses male attractiveness to spread pollen while the female does the work of seed production. This seems more like birds and other animal kingdom members than plants’ design.

Chenille is a favorite material for warm winter robes and these plants’ blooms do resemble it’s namesake.