Mother's Song
This wild flower is grown in fields and forest clearings, and is especially loved by the Dun people. Its four pink and white petals are wrapped around each other to form a champagne-glass shape. The flower also has four small sepals at the base.
The most notable part of these flowers is the music that they play. At the base of the petals and sepals are two holes (penetrate sepal and petal, and they line up) which allow wind to flow through the flower. Biologically, this allows wind to release pollen from the flower and send it into the air. This is how the flowers pollinate. Musically, when the wind passes through the flower, it causes the pistil and stamen to vibrate (releasing pollen) and this vibration acts like a reed in a woodwind instrument.
The timbre of the sounds changes during the flower’s life. At first budding, the flower is very tubular in shape. The organs are held tight within the petals, and do not vibrate well. As such, the flower has a clear and high pitched sound, resembling a flute.
At full bloom, the ends of the petals unfurl like the bell of a brass instrument, and the flower is rounder in shape. This allows the organs to vibrate in a full range of motion, producing a warm and rich sound, resembling a clarinet. This stage is when most of the pollen is released.
The dun peoples love these flowers, and often dry them to keep them as instruments. Upon drying these flowers, the pink petals turn brown, coloured like brass. The pistil and stamen are dry more brittle, providing a richer sound that resembles a saxophone. Duns often carve the dried stems into mouthpieces, and cover the airflow holes with their fingers to change notes. This instrument is very fragile, because the dried flower is very brittle.
These flowers have strong stems and grow about knee high. This allows it to stand higher than most field plants so wind is not blocked. The sturdy stems keep flowers from breaking off during high winds.