Swell Smells Night flowers oſt en use more than pale colors to attract pollinators. Many use strong smells, too. T ese smells travel on an evening breeze. T ey make an invisible trail that leads straight to the flower. Some plants use sweet smells. A Queen
of the Night cactus doesn’t look sweet. T is cactus looks like a dead bush. Sharp thorns cover its stems. It’s hard to see this prickly plant at night. One night a year is diff erent, though. Aſt er
dark, white flowers open along its stems. Each one is as big as a plate. As the flowers open, a strong smell of vanilla fills the air. Far away, a carpenter bee smells the
flowers. Usually, this bee is only active during the day. In fact, it can’t see well in the dark. It doesn’t need its eyes to find this flower, though. T e scent leads the bee to the cactus. Bats and moths make a beeline for the Queen’s flowers, too.
Sour Power Not all nighttime pollinators like sweet smells. Some plants have solved that problem. A giant baobab tree is a good example. Long, narrow flower buds grow high up in
the tree’s branches. T ey look like bananas. When the sun sets, the ends of these buds open. T e edges curl back. T ey look like purple petals. Inside each one is a creamy white flower. Dozens of stamens coated with pollen stick out from the center of the flower. As the flower opens, it makes a sour smell.
It smells like old watermelon. Not far away, a lemur sniff s the air. It likes the smell. T e lemur races to the tree. It scrambles up
the trunk and into the branches. It sticks its nose into one flower, then another. As it laps up nectar, pollen coats its fur.
20 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER
Big Stink T e pretty red flowers of an African sausage don’t smell good to many people. T ey smell musty. T e smell attracts bats and moths, though. T ey pollinate the flowers. Soon, fruits grow. T ey look like big sausages. A corpse flower stinks even worse. Its
center is a pillar of tiny flowers. When they open, the plant smells like rotting flesh. T e smelly bait attracts flies. T ey crawl
over the flowers looking for a treat. Pollen sticks to their feet. T e flies move from flower to flower. T ey spread pollen with each step.
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