46 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



Trumpet Honeysuckle — Lonicera caprifolium 



May-Oct. 



This flower is a convenient one to observe and 

 study, because it is found so near our homes, 

 often chistering about our porches and, of a sum- 

 mer night, sending its heavy 

 and delicious perfume into 

 our windows, recalhng ro- 

 mantic evenings and dis- 

 tant lands. Then, too, its 

 visitors, the night-moths, 

 come in a stealthy, spectral 



HONEYSUCKLE ox- n-.,- in • 



lashion, nittmg and neemg 

 on filmy wings impalpable as a fairy-tale. Yet 

 the honeysuckle is just as earnest in its nature and 

 just as ingenious in its efforts to succeed. 



Its stigma advances well beyond the group of 

 anthers, and all are nicely proportioned to brush 

 against the downy body of the hawk-moth. Its 

 trumpet is exactly proportioned in length and 

 diameter to fit the moth's tongue, and the fragrance 

 and nectar well up in an increasing tide when twi- 

 light falls and the guests are due to arrive. When 

 bees try in vain to sip at the honeysuckle I am re- 

 minded of the fable of the Fox invited to dine with 

 the Stork and unable to drink from the tall vase, 

 which offered no difficulty to his long-billed host. 



