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r/je various red-flowered plants of the 

 Judean desert, above, stagger their peak 

 flowering periods. Anemones bloom first, 

 followed by tulips, buttercups, and 

 poppies. Below: A crowned anemone is 

 pollinated by three Amphiocoma beetles. 











.^' . •' =^.>w'«' 



Bernd Heinrich 



56 Natural History 5/94 



had an uncanny resemblance to that of 

 hobblebush, a viburnum I knew from the 

 Maine woods. 



There was, in this plant community as 

 in any other, a demand for flowers that 

 were best suited to the specific tastes and 

 physical requirements of the various polli- 

 nators. A broad, economic analogy ap- 

 plies. If there is a market in Israel for 

 pizza, and there are no Italians around to 

 make it, then even some Israelis might be 

 induced to become pizza makers. The ven- 

 ture could be a risky one, but high risks 

 can yield high rewards as well as extinc- 

 tion. In other words, beyond the plants' 

 struggle for existence in the physical envi- 

 ronment is a second fierce struggle among 

 themselves to be serviced by the pollina- 

 tors. Each gets pollinated by practicing a 

 specific "line" or profession. As in Adam 







1 ' .v ' 









m 



Mi 



RM 





Smith's ideahzed free-market economy, 

 specialization and "perfection" are the re- 

 sult of fierce competition. 



In the vast sea of varied flowers stretch- 

 ing before me, not many "shoppers" — 

 bees, flies, butterflies — were to be seen. 

 Therefore, at least at this time, the plants 

 were competing to attract pollinators. I ca- 

 sually followed one honeybee whose tho- 

 rax was dusted with yellow pollen. It flew 

 slowly without landing among the sea of 

 yellow composites, blue-and-yellow 

 mints, and pink stork's bills, passing also 

 red anemones and white stars-of-Bethle- 

 hem. After several yards of carefiil search, 

 it landed on an almost-hidden plant, a par- 

 asitic figwort with blue flowers and white 

 nectar-guides on its lips. After a second or 

 two, the bee came out of the deep flower, 

 scraped pollen from its thorax, and then 



