THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



tongue, which is carried coiled beneath the head, varies in 

 length from ^ of an inch to more than 10 inches; and is formed 

 by the extension of the blades of the maxilla?, which are held to- 

 gether by minute hooks so that it is practically air-tight. 



Among butterfly-flowers none are more widely known than 

 the pinks. They exhibit a wonderful variety of red shades, 

 varying from white, through rose, pink, and deep red to scarlet 

 and crimson. The petals may be marbled or dotted with 

 white, with a white centre, surrounded by a purple ring, as in 

 Dianthus deltoides. The corolla is often notched or fringed 

 and surmounted by a corona of scales. The perfume is aro- 

 matic, and the nectar is deeply concealed. The red-flowered 

 pinks are adapted to pollination by butterflies by which they 

 are chiefly visited. 



The variegated flowers of the sweet-william, or bunch- 

 pink (Dianthus barbatus), familiar in every flower-garden, dis- 

 play the most vivid shades of crimson and scarlet and, as the 

 name indicates, exhale a pleasant fragrance. (Fig. 59.) They 

 are adapted to pollination by butterflies and day-flying moths. 

 The nectar lies at the bottom of a long calyx-tube beyond the 

 reach of honey-bees, which I have seen vainly thrusting their 

 tongues down the centre of the flowers, probing between the 

 petals, and even looking under the corolla. 



The carmine flowers of the stemless catchfly (Silene acaulis), 

 which grows in the higher Alps, are very frequently visited by 

 butterflies, upon which they are dependent for pollination. 

 Two species of Lychnis have beautiful bright- red flowers, 

 which are very attractive to butterflies. Twenty-eight dif- 

 ferent species of butterflies have been taken on the handsome, 

 red flowers of the soapwort (Saponaria ocymoides); the pinks 

 (Dianthus) also have the nectar so deeply concealed that it canj 

 be reached only by Lepidoptera, a part of the elegant red flowers I 



128 



