THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



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

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

 by the extension of the blades of the maxillae, 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 harhatus), 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 can 

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



128 



