Yellow and Orange 



antennae, tongue, legs, and wings, cannot but be rubbed off on 

 the protruding sticky stigma of the next honeysuckle tube en- 

 tered; hence cross-fertilization is regularly effected by moths 

 alone. The next day such interlopers as bees, flies, butterflies, 

 and even the outwitted humming-bird, may take whatever nectar 

 or pollen remains. If the previous evening has been calm and fine, 

 they will find little or none; but if the night has been wild and 

 stormy, keeping the moths under cover, the tubes will brim with 

 sweets. After fertilization the corolla turns yellow to let visitors 

 know the mutual benefit association has gone out of business. 



Bush Honeysuckle; Gravel-weed 



(Diervilla Diervilla) Honeysuckle family 



(D. trifida of Gray) 



Flowers — Yellow, small, fragrant, I to 5 (usually 3) together on 

 a peduncle from upper leaf-axils. Calyx tube slender, elon- 

 gated ; corolla narrowly funnel-form, about Y\ in. long, its 5 

 lobes spreading, 3 of them somewhat united ; 5 stamens ; 1 

 pistil projecting. Stem : A smooth, branching shrub 2 to 4 ft. 

 high. Leaves : Opposite, oval, and taper-pointed, finely saw- 

 edged. Fruit: Slender, beaked pods crowned with the 5 calyx 

 lobes. 



Preferred Habitat— -Dry or rocky soil, woodlands, hills. 



Flowering Season — May — August. 



Distribution — British Possessions southward to Michigan and 

 North Carolina. 



The coral honeysuckle determined to woo the humming-bird 

 by wearing his favorite color ; the twining white and yellow honey- 

 suckles of our porches chose for their benefactors the sphinx 

 moths, attracting them by delicious fragrance and deeply hidden 

 nectar in slender tubes that are visible even in the dark ; whereas 

 the small-flowered bush honeysuckles still cater to the bees which, 

 in all probability, once sufficed for the entire family. For them a 

 conspicuous landing place has been provided in the more highly 

 colored lower lobe of this flower, from which the visitor cannot fail 

 to find the pocket full of nectar that swells the base of the tube ; 

 but when he alights, pollen laden from another blossom, he must 

 pay toll by leaving some of the vitalizing dust on the projecting 

 stigma before he feasts and dusts himself afresh. After they have 

 been plundered, and consequently fertilized, all the honeysuckles 

 change color, this one taking on a deeper yellow to let the bees 

 know the larder is empty, that they may waste no precious time, 

 but confine their visits where they are needed. " Many flowers 



339 



