Open All Night Some flowers have a diff erent way to attract pollinators. T ey off er food all night long. T at’s what happens in a forest in Central


America. As the sun sets over the tall balsa trees, dozens of flowers open in the treetops. T ey smell like sweet mushrooms. Soon, a parade of animals starts. T ey fly,


crawl, and swing through the trees. A monkey grabs the petals of a balsa flower and laps up all the nectar. Its sharp paws tear the edges of the flower. Full, the monkey moves on. T e petals are ripped. Yet the flower refills


with fresh nectar. Next, a kinkajou visits. It stops and drinks from the same flower. Aſt er it leaves, the flower makes more nectar again. T is happens all night long. Bats, woolly


opossums, and katydids visit the flowers. By dawn, many of these visitors have carried pollen from flower to flower. Snakes and praying mantises visit, too. T ey don’t drink the nectar, though. T ey eat the pollinators.


FUN FACTS


• Beetles pollinate 88% of all flowering plants.


• A hawk moth’s proboscis is longer than its body.


• Lemurs are the largest known pollinators.


• One nectar bat has a tongue so long that it curls inside its ribcage.


22 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER


Setting a Trap To survive rough paws and claws, many night flowers have big, strong petals. T at way, the animals can’t rip them to shreds. An Amazon water lily uses its strong petals


in a diff erent way. T is giant, white flower is sturdy and flat. Its petals can hold up big beetles—and trap them! When the lily opens, the sweet smell of


pineapple rises. Heat rises, too. T e heat and scent attract beetles. T ey burrow into the flower. T ey’re so busy eating, they don’t notice the flower’s petals slowly closing. Now there’s no way out of the flower. T e beetles are trapped. T e next night, the flower reopens. T e


beetles are still alive. T ey crawl out. Each one is gooey and coated in pollen. T e flower turns pink and loses its scent. It doesn’t need to attract beetles any more. T e beetles find another lily, taking the pollen with them.


Flower Mystery Night flowers oſt en go to extremes to attract pollinators. Some seem to glow. Some stink. Some gush nectar. Some trap pollinators. As a result, the plants get help making seeds. T e animals get something, too. T ey get food. T is partnership is called mutualism. Sometimes, though, the relationship is a bit


of a mystery. Take a newly found orchid. It’s the only orchid known to bloom at night. Yet it puzzles scientists. It doesn’t have a strong smell. So scientists wonder what pollinates it. T ey think it may be tiny flies called midges. T ese flies may think the orchid is a good place to lay their eggs. T e night may hide more flower mysteries.


One thing is clear, though. When plants and animals help one another, they have a chance to stick around for a long time.


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