WASP-FLOWERS 47 



The figwort is quite a charming plant, 

 when one stops to look at it ; its clusters 

 of small purple-green flowers, light and 

 airy on their slender stems making a 

 pretty pattern against the sky. But the 

 principal interest attaching to it is in the 

 shape and size of its blossoms. 



These little green and purple urns are 

 just large enough to receive the head and 

 chest of a hornet or yellow-jacket, and 

 when the little creatures fit themselves 

 into its accommodating bosom they find 

 its nectar neither hidden nor to be reached 

 only through long and slender tubes, 

 as is the case with so many bee-flowers. 



No, this figwort nectar lies within easy 

 reach at the bottom of the little 

 urn, ready to yield itself abundantly 

 to the short flat tongues of hungry 

 hornets and yellow-jackets. And 

 about these flowers on sunny days 

 the hornets and yellow-jackets can 

 always be found. 



