Wild Flowers: An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect VisitorsBlanchan, Neltje
Science
Wild Flowers: An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors
Blanchan, Neltje
Wild flowers -- North America
Meadows bright with clover-heads among the grasses, daisies, and
buttercups in June resound with the murmur of unwearying industry
and rapturous enjoyment. Bumblebees by the tens of thousands
buzzing above acres of the farmer's clover blossoms should be
happy in a knowledge of their benefactions, which doubtless
concern them not at all. They have never heard the story of the
Australians who imported quantities of clover for fodder, and had
glorious fields of it that season, but not a seed to plant next
year's crops, simply because the farmers had failed to import the
bumblebee. After her immigration the clovers multiplied
prodigiously. No; the bee's happiness rests on her knowledge that
only the butterflies' long tongues can honestly share with her
the brimming wells of nectar in each tiny floret. Children who
have sucked them too appreciate her rapture. If we examine a
little flower under the magnifying glass, we shall see why its
structure places it in the pea family. Bumblebees so depress the
keel either when they sip, or feed on pollen, that their heads
and tongues get well dusted with the yellow powder, which they
transfer to the stigmas of other flowers; whereas the butterflies
are of doubtful value, if not injurious, since their long,
slender tongues easily drain the nectar without depressing the
keel. Even if a few grains of pollen should cling to their
tongues, it would probably be wiped off as they withdrew them
through the narrow slit, where the petals nearly meet, at the
mouth of the flower. Bombus terrestris delights in nipping holes
at the base of the tube, which other pilferers also profit by.
Our country is so much richer in butterflies than Europe, it is
scarcely surprising that Professor Robertson found thirteen
Lepidoptera out of twenty insect visitors to this clover in
Illinois, whereas Muller caught only eight butterflies on it out
of a list of thirty-nine visitors in Germany. The fritillaries
and the sulphurs are always seen about the clover fields among
many others, and the "dusky wings" and the caterpillar of several
species feeds almost exclusively on this plant.
"To live in clover," from the insect's point of view at least,
may well mean a life of luxury and affluence. Most peasants in
Europe will tell you that a dream about the flower foretells not
only a happy marriage, but long life and prosperity. For ages the
clover has been counted a mystic plant, and all sorts of good and
bad luck were said to attend the finding of variations of its
leaves which had more than the common number of leaflets. At
evening these leaflets fold downward, the side ones like two
hands clasped in prayer, the end one bowed over them. In this
fashion the leaves of the white and other clovers also go to
sleep, to protect their sensitive surfaces from cold by
radiation, it is thought.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account