In the moonlight, dark and scary shadows dance around a tree. T ey look
like long, skinny fingers. As the wind blows, a sound like rattling bones rises. Clickety-clack, clickety-clack. Suddenly, a stink fills the air. High up in
the tree, flower buds open. T ey smell like rotting fruit. It is a sign that the Midnight Horror tree is blooming. 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. Smelly nectar fills the bottom of the flower. T e bat quickly laps up this 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 to another flower, it
takes the pollen with it. Some of the pollen falls off into the next flower. Now the tree can make seeds. Someday, these seeds may grow into new Midnight Horror trees.
Day and Night Like the Midnight Horror tree, many plants need help spreading their pollen. Unlike the tree, most of these plants have flowers that bloom during the day. T ese daytime flowers have special ways to
attract visitors. T ey use bright colors, pretty patterns, and sweet smells. Bees, butterf lies, and other daytime pollinators buzz by. T ese plants and animals mostly stay busy
while the sun is up. T en night falls, and the night shiſt begins. A diff erent group of plants blooms. Some
f lowers have names like evening primrose or four-o’clocks. T ey open just as the sun sets. Other flowers, like those on the Midnight Horror tree, only open in the dead of night. At night, a new crew of pollinators takes
over. T ey include bats, moths, and other nocturnal animals.
18 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
Moon Glow Night flowers can’t use the same ways as other f lowers to attract pollinators. For instance, bright colors and pretty patterns don’t show up in the dark. So most night flowers are white or a pale color. A moonf lower is a good example. As the
sun sets, it opens its petals. It’s so bright white that it seems to glow in the dark. A hawk moth quickly spots it and swoops in. Instead of a mouth, the moth has a long proboscis. T e moth pokes it deep into the flower. It uses it like a straw to slurp up nectar. As the moth hovers and drinks, its wings
thump against the petals. Its fat, furry body bumps the flower’s stamens, or the male parts of the flower. T ese are the parts of the flower that make pollen. T e moth knocks the pollen loose. Some 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 f lower’s pistil, or its female part. T is transfer, or movement, of pollen is called pollination. T is happens only at night for this flower.
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