The Golden Rule for Flowers 185 



smallest flies and midges, when once dusted with pollen, 

 are almost sure to convey a few grains to the next blos- 

 som upon which they alight.^ 



Pollen is of vital importance to the plants themselves, 

 besides serving as food to bees and other insects; but 

 nectar, so far as appears, is of no use to the plant except 

 as serving to attract useful visitors; and the same may be 

 said of sweet scents and brightly colored petals. All these 

 are, in fact, the one baits, the other signals, which the 

 plant puts forth to make known to those who understand 

 the language where pollen and nectar may be found. 



"Good entertainment for bees and butterflies" is what 

 the bright colors mean; and where, as is often the case, 

 the nectar is concealed in some deep and safe recess where 

 wet cannot injure it, many flowers have lines or dots upon 

 some of their petals to point out where it may be found, 

 and so save their visitors' time. 



Many bees have a regular pollen-brush of thick hairs 

 under their tails, with which they sweep up the grains; 

 and even when their object is nectar, not pollen, they are 

 almost sure to carry off a few grains by brushing against 

 the anthers of the blossom they are visiting. For all bees 

 are more or less covered with hairs, some of which, being 

 webbed, are especially adapted for holding the pollen- 

 grains, while the grains themselves cling all the better for 

 the spines and hairs with which they are often beset. 



Small insects are useful for fertilizing small flowers, 

 but they may light upon a large flower, creep in, and even 

 rob it of nectar, without coming into contact with the 

 pollen at all, which is almost impossible in the case of the 

 larger species of bees, with their hairy bodies. The bee, 

 too, has another recommendation: it has to visit many 



