. Foundations of botany. t, but small flowers, like the mignonette, and night-blooming ones, like the white tobacco and the eveningprimrose, are sweet-scented to attract night-flying is interesting to observe that the majority of the flowerswhich bloom at night are white, and that they are muchmore generally sweet-scented than flowers which bloomduring the day. A few flowers arecarrion-scented (and purplish or brown-ish colored) and attract flies. 429. Colors of Flowers. — Flowerswhich are of any other color than greenprobably in most cases display theircolors to attract insects, or o
. Foundations of botany. t, but small flowers, like the mignonette, and night-blooming ones, like the white tobacco and the eveningprimrose, are sweet-scented to attract night-flying is interesting to observe that the majority of the flowerswhich bloom at night are white, and that they are muchmore generally sweet-scented than flowers which bloomduring the day. A few flowers arecarrion-scented (and purplish or brown-ish colored) and attract flies. 429. Colors of Flowers. — Flowerswhich are of any other color than greenprobably in most cases display theircolors to attract insects, or occasionallybirds. The principal color of the floweris most frequently due to showy petals;sometimes, as in the marsh marigold, itbelongs to the sepals; and not infre-quently, as in some cornels and Eu-phorbias (Fig. 245), the involucre is more brilliant andconspicuous than any part of the flower strictly so called. Different kinds of insects appear to be especiallyattracted by different colors. In general, dull yellow,. Fig. 250. — Stamens andPistil of the Grape(magnified), with aNectar Glaud, g, be-tween Each Pair ofStamens. 358 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY brownish, or dark purple flowers, especially if small, seemto depend largely on the visits of flies. Red, violet, andblue are the colors by which bees and butterflies are mostreadily enticed. The power of bees to distinguish colorshas been shown by a most interesting set of experimentsin which daubs of honey were put on slips of glass laid onseparate pieces of paper, each of a different color, andexposed where bees would find them.^ It is certain, however, that colors are less importantmeans of attraction than odors from the fact that insectsare extremely near-sighted. Butterflies and moths cannotsee distinctly at a distance of more than about five feet,bees and wasps at more than two feet, and flies at morethan two and a fourth feet. Probably no insects can makeout objects clearly more than six feet away.^ Yet it isquite poss
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