54 PICTURING MIRACLES 



fifteen minutes from the first snap of the calyx to the 

 full unfolding, looking down into the open flower, 

 you see what seems a dew laden cobweb on an early 

 morning, the fine threads forming a network around 

 the anthers. You wonder why and unless you watch 

 it during the night you would not discover the rea- 

 son which is this: 



The Evening Primrose's large yellow blossom at- 

 tracts the great Sphinx Moth. It hovers like a hum- 

 ming bird over the blossom, unrolls its proboscis, 

 extends it into the very base of the flower and while 

 hovering above the blossom is very apt to get its 

 rough honey pump entangled in the spider-web-like 

 hairs, pulling them out with a mass of pollen at- 

 tached. This filmy mass as the moth speeds on its way 

 drags out behind and more than likely becomes en- 

 tangled in the four-spiked pistil on its next evening 

 call. So for die honey received they pay in transpor- 

 tation of the pollen grains. 



Unhappily this Primrose is now almost extinct in 

 the Yosemite meadows. The mowing machine took 

 its toll and since it has been put on the protected 

 list the deer have acquired a fondness for the leaves, 

 not hesitating, either, at blossoms. The Primrose 

 being a biennial requires two years to produce blos- 

 soms, and as the pollen does not germinate readily, 

 between nature and conditions imposed in recent 



