Butterflies, which delight in bright colors and distinct markings, find little to charm them here; but the pale shade of pink or white, easily distinguished in the dark, and the fragrance, strongest after sunset, effectively advertise the flower at dusk when its benefactors begin to fly.The sphinx moth, a frequent visitor, works as rapidly in extracting nectar from the deep tube as any hawk moth, so frequently mistaken for a hummingbird.The little cliff-dwelling bees (Halictus), among others, visit the flowers by day for pollen only.At first five outer stamens protrude slightly from the flower and shed their pollen on the visitor, immediately over the entrance.Afterward, having spread apart to leave the entrance free, the path is clear for the five inner stamens to follow the same course.Now the styles are still enclosed in the tube but when there is no longer fear of self-fertilization - that is to say, when the pollen has all been carried off, and the stamens have withered - up they come and spread apart to expose their rough upper surfaces to pollen brought from younger flowers by the moths.
DEPTFORD PINK
(Dianthus Armeria) Pink family Flowers - Pink, with whitish dots, small, borne in small clusters at end of stem.Calyx tubular, 5-toothed, with several bract-like leaves at base; 5 petals with toothed edges, clawed at base within deep calyx; 10 stamens; 1 pistil with 2 styles.Stem: 6 to 18 in.high, stiff, erect, finely hairy, few branches.Leaves:
Opposite, blade-shaped, or lower ones rounded at end.
Preferred Habitat - Fields, roadsides.
Flowering Season - June-September.
Distribution - Southern Ontario, New England, south to Maryland, west to Michigan.
The true pinks of Europe, among which are the SWEET WILLIAM or BUNCH PINK (D.barbatus) of our gardens, occasionally wild here, and the deliciously spicy CLOVE PINK (D.Carophyllus), ancestor of the superb carnations of the present day, that have reached a climax in the Lawson pink of newspaper fame, were once held sacred to Jupiter, hence Dianthus = Jove's own flower.The Deptford pink, a rather insignificant little European immigrant, without fragrance, has a decided charm, nevertheless, when seen in bright patches among the dry grass of early autumn, with small butterflies, that are its devoted admirers, hovering above.
PINK OR PALE CORYDALIS
(Capnoides sempervirens; Corydalis glauca of Gray) Poppy family Flowers - Pink, with yellow tip, about 1/2 in.long, a few borne in a loose, terminal raceme.Calyx of 2 small sepals; corolla irregular, of 4 erect, closed, and flattened petals joined, 1 of outer pair with short rounded spur at base, the interior ones narrow and keeled on back.Stamens 6, in 2 sets, Opposite outer petals; 1 pistil.Stem: Smooth, curved, branched, 1 to 2 feet high.Leaves: Pale grayish green, delicate, divided into variously and finely cut leaflets.Fruit: Very narrow, erect pod, 1 to 2 in.long.
Preferred Habitat - Rocky, rich, cool woods.
Flowering Season - April-September.
Distribution - Nova Scotia westward to Alaska, south to Minnesota and North Carolina.
Dainty little pink sacs, yellow at the mouth, hang upside down along a graceful stem, and instantly suggest the Dutchman's breeches, squirrel corn, bleeding heart, and climbing fumitory, to which the plant is next of kin.Because the lark (Korydalos)has a spur, the flower, which boasts a small one also, borrows its Greek name.
Hildebrand proved by patient experiments that some flowers of this genus have not only lost the power of self-fertilization, but that they produce fertile seed only when pollen from another plant is carried to them.Yet how difficult they make dining for their benefactors! The bumblebee, which can reach the nectar, but not lap it conveniently, often "gets square" with the secretive blossom by nipping holes through its spur, to which the hive bees and others hasten for refreshment.We frequently find these punctured flowers.But hive and other bees visiting the blossom for pollen, some rubs off against their breast when they depress the two middle petals, a sort of sheath that contains pistil and stamens.
HARDHACK; STEEPLE BUSH
(Spiraea tomentosa) Rose family Flowers - Pink or magenta, rarely white, very small, in dense, pyramidal clusters.Calyx of 5 sepals; corolla of 5 rounded petals; stamens, 20 to 60; usually 5 pistils, downy.Stem: 2 to 3ft.high, erect, shrubby, ******, downy.Leaves: Dark green above, covered with whitish woolly hairs beneath; oval, saw-edged, 1 to 2 in.long.
Preferred Habitat - Low moist ground, roadside ditches, swamps.
Flowering Season - July-September.
Distribution - Nova Scotia westward, and southward to Georgia and Kansas.
These bright spires of pink bloom attract our attention no less than the countless eyes of flies, beetles, and bees, ever on the lookout for food to be eaten on the spot or stored up for future progeny.Pollen-feeding insects such as these, delight in the spireas, most of which secrete little or no nectar, but yield an abundance of pollen, which they can gather from the crowded panicles with little loss of time, transferring some of it to the pistils, of course, as they move over the tiny blossoms.But most spireas are also able to fertilize themselves, insects failing them.
An instant's comparison shows the steeple bush to be closely related to the fleecy, white meadow-sweet, often found growing near.The pink spires, which bloom from the top downward, have pale brown tips where the withered flowers are, toward the end of summer.