In the moonlight, dark and scary shadows dance around a tree. T ey look
like long, skinny fingers. T e wind blows. A sound like rattling bones rises. Clickety-clack, clack, clack. Suddenly, a stink fills the air. High up in
the tree, flower buds open. T ey smell like rotting fruit. You’d think these sights, sounds, and smells
would scare everything away. T ink again. T is creepy tree is inviting visitors. Attracted by the smell, a bat zooms to
the tree. It buries its head deep in a flower. Nectar fills the bottom of the flower. T e bat quickly laps up this sweet juice. It must hurry. By morning, the tree’s flowers will shrivel up and fall off . As the bat drinks, a powder falls onto it.
T e powder is the flower’s pollen. When the bat flies away, it takes the pollen
with it. Some pollen falls off into the next flower it visits. Now the tree can make seeds. Someday, these seeds may grow into new Midnight Horror trees.
Day and Night Many plants need help spreading their pollen. Unlike the tree, most bloom during the day. T ese flowers use bright colors, pretty patterns, and sweet smells to attract visitors. Bees, butterflies, and other daytime pollinators buzz by. T en night falls, and the night shiſt begins.
A diff erent group of plants bloom. Some of these flowers have names like four-o’clocks or evening primrose. T ey open just as the sun sets. Other flowers, like those on the Midnight Horror tree, open in the dead of night. A new crew of pollinators takes over, too.
T ey include bats, moths, and other nocturnal animals. T ey search the dark for flowers.
18 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER
Moon Glow Bright colors and pretty patterns don’t show up in the dark. So flowers that bloom at night must have other ways to stand out. Many are white or a pale color. Take a moonflower, for example. As the
sun sets, it opens its white petals. It seems to glow in the dark. A hawk moth quickly spots it and swoops in. As the moth hovers and drinks, its wings
thump the petals. Its fat, furry body bumps the flower’s stamens, or male parts. Anthers at the tips of the stamens hold pollen. T e moth knocks the pollen loose. Some of the pollen sticks to its body. T en the moth flies to another moonflower
to drink more nectar. Some pollen from the first flower falls off . It lands on the second flower’s pistil, or female part. T is is called pollination. Now the flower can grow seeds. For the moonflower, the moth’s visit
couldn’t have come at a better time. By morning, the flower will wilt and die.
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