File:The flower and the bee; plant life and pollination (1918) (14756471916).jpg

Identifier: flowerbeeplant00love (find matches)
Title: The flower and the bee; plant life and pollination
Year: 1918 (1910s)
Authors: Lovell, John Harvey, 1860-1939
Subjects: Fertilization of plants
Publisher: New York, C. Scribner's sons
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

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t, and honeysuckle families, whichcontain a total of 104 species. In the aster or thistle family (Compositce) there are 262 yel-low flowers and 134 white. Though this is the highest of plantfamilies, the central florets of each head are very small, andthe corolla has been very little modified; consequently theprimitive yellow has been largely retained. Some large genera,as golden aster (Chrysopsis) and goldenrod (Solidago) with oneexception, and groundsel, or Senecio, have all the flowers of thishue. So abundant are many yellow-flowered species in variouslocalities, as the sunflowers, goldenrods. Coreopsis, Spanishneedles (Bidens aristosa), gum-plant (Grindelia), crownbeard(Verbesina), marigolds, and dandelions that yellow is morepredominant in the floral landscape of North America than anyother color. Yellow might well be our national color, and thegoldenrod our national flower. It is the most bright and cheer-ful of colors since it reflects the largest amount of light, and it is 234
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Fig. 108. Garden-Marigold. Calendula officinalisThe most familiar yellow flower of cultivation THE FLOWER AND THE BEE doubtless for this reason that yellow flowers enjoy so greatpopularity both in the United States and Europe. The goldenrods, a genus of beautiful and stately plants,which are everyrxhere common in North America, bloom frommidsummer until late fall. They are most valuable as a sourceof honey, and in New England are the main reliance of the bee-keeper for winter stores for his colonies. They are great favor-ites with the honey-bee, and are visited also by more than 100other species of insects. The bright-yellow color of the flowersrenders them conspicuous both by day and evening; and asthe temperature of the inflorescence at night is several degreesabove that of the surrounding air, they sometimes serve as anocturnal refuge for insects. And in the evening, everywhere.Along the roadside, up and down,I see the golden torches flare. Like lighted street-lamps in the town. I

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