I.] COLOUR, SCENT, AND HONEY. ir 



It is an almost invariable rule that wind-fertilised 

 flowers are inconspicuous ; but the reverse does not 

 hold good, and there are manv flowers which, though 



^J * C5 



habitually visited by insects, are not brightly coloured. 

 In some cases, flowers make up by their numbers for 

 the want of individual conspicuousness. In others, 

 the insects are attracted by scent ; indeed, as has 

 already been mentioned, not only the colour 1 of 

 flowers, but the scent also, has no doubt been greatly 

 developed through natural selection, as an attraction 

 to insects. But though bright colours and strong 

 odours are sufficient to attract the attention of insects, 

 something more is required. Flowers, however sweet- 

 smelling or beautiful, would not be visited by insects 

 unless they had some inducements more substantial 

 to offer. These advantages are the pollen and the 

 honey ; although it has been suggested that some 

 flowers beguile insects by holding out the expecta- 

 tion of honey which does not really exist, just as 

 some animals repel their enemies by resembling 

 other species which are either dangerous or dis- 

 agreeable. 



Night flowers are generally white or pale yellow, 

 these being the tints which render them most con- 

 spicuous in the dusk of evening. Thus Lychnis diurna, 

 which opens by day, is red ; while L. vespertina, which 

 opens in the evening, is white. 



It will scarcely, I think, be doubted by any one 



1 In confirmation of this it is stated that when insects are excluded, 

 the blossoms last longer than is otherwise the case ; that when flowers 

 are once fertilised, the corolla soon drops off, its function being per- 

 formed. 



