34 
THE GARDEN OF THE WORLD 
Why do flowers 
open and close? 
of our commonest flowers belong to this family. 
Besides the daisies and dandelions, there are the 
sunflowers, brown-eyed susans, dahlias, chrys¬ 
anthemums, and thistles. 
Flowers close to keep out the rain, to keep 
warm, and to keep unwelcome insects away 
from their pollen. They stay open during the 
business hours of the insects they favor. If bees 
and butterflies are wanted, the flower is open in 
the daytime when these insects are flying. It 
closes at night to protect its nectar from the rain 
and dew. The flowers which prefer moths, 
however, are open at night and closed in the 
daytime because moths fly at night. 
About four o’clock in the afternoon, the 
small flowers of the white honeysuckle begin to 
open, and the sweet fragrance becomes very 
strong. Soon the sphinx moth, attracted by 
the perfume, begins to hover over the blossoms. 
It is a large moth and resembles a humming bird 
when flying. It has a long tongue which it 
carries rolled up. At each honeysuckle this 
tongue is unrolled and thrust deep into the 
