Male and female flowers of Helicodiceros muscivorus, the Dead Horse Arum. The picture shows the interior of the chamber at the base of the spathe of the arum bloom. The central column is the base of the spadix, a tissue that extends into the air beyond the top edge of the picture, and serves to guide blow flies into the chamber. The paired tissues above centre are anthers, that produce pollen. Below, the thimble-shaped structure is a mass of female florets, the origin of eventual seed. Cross pollination is ensured by female flowers becoming receptive to visiting flies bearing pollen before the male florets mature. The plant here bloomed 5 days previously and attracted many blow flies. One, dead, is visible bottom right. The small off-white particles on the surfaces of the plant tissue (notably bottom, left ) are the maggots hatched from eggs that flies have laid inside the chamber.