Besides nectar, many flowers ofter them their pollen as food.
Several flowers possess no nectar at all, but instead of it plenty
of pollen in their numerous stamens (Poppy, Rose). These flowers
are erect and have the shape of shells or cups, so that the
falling dust may not be spilt and lost (page 8).
Some flowers offer their visitors nice and snug homes to live
in for a while (Aroidez, Aristolochia); and the Banyan tree even
allows the small midges that can enter the little openings of the
figs, to lay their eggs in the figs (page 118).
(>) How the plants attract visitors. (i) CoLours.—The petals
of the flowers are usually brightly coloured, and are readily


264 STRUCTURE AND VITAL PROCESSES OF PLANTS


seen from a distance. If the corolla is inconspicuous, the
bracts may become coloured, as in Bougainvillea. In Musseenda
(Kan. Bellotti; Mei. Vellila)
¥ “ one calyx-lobe is much enlarged
4 Mi and looks lke an ordinary leaf,
pig but is white. Flowers that
open in the evening and must,
therefore, be pollinated by night-
moths, are generally white or
pale, so as to be easily seen in

Fig. 248.— Mussenda frondosa. The one A Z
large white leaf is one of the five the twilight (Jasmine, Crinum,
lobes of the calyx. Clerodendron, Nyctanthes, etc.).
