Swell Smells T e moth and the moonf lower are partners. Each gets something it needs. T e moth gets food. T e plant gets help making seeds. T is partnership is called mutualism. Night flowers use more than color to
attract help. Many use strong smells, too. Some, like the Queen of the Night, smell sweet. T is prickly plant doesn’t look sweet, though. Most of the year, this cactus looks like a dead bush with sharp thorns. As night falls, it blends into the darkness. One night a year is diff erent, though. Aſt er
dark, white flowers as big as plates open along its stems. T e pale color stands out. As the f lowers open, the smell of vanilla fills the air. It overpowers other desert smells. Far away, a carpenter bee picks up the
smell. Usually, this fat bee is active during the day. In fact, it can’t see well in the dark. Yet it can’t resist the smell of vanilla. T e aroma leads the bee to the cactus. Bats and moths make a beeline for the Queen’s flowers, too. Night flowers oſt en smell stronger than
other flowers. T at’s because it’s hard to see these plants in the dark. Smells easily travel on an evening breeze, though. T e smells make an invisible trail that leads to the flower.
Sour Power Flower smells aren’t always sweet. Sometimes, they’re sour. A giant baobab tree is a good example. High up in the tree’s branches, long narrow flower buds grow. T ey look like bananas. T en the sun sets. T e ends of these buds open. T e edges curl back, forming purple petals. Inside each one is a creamy white flower. Dozens of stamens coated with pollen stick out from the center. As the flower opens, it gives off a sour
scent. It smells like old watermelon. Nearby, a lemur sniff s the air. It likes the smell. T e lemur races to the tree and scrambles
among the branches. It sticks its nose into first one flower, then another. As it laps up nectar, pollen coats its fur.
20 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
Big Stink An African sausage tree also smells strong. As its blood-red flowers open, they give off a musty smell. Soon, bats and moths flock to the flowers. Once they are pollinated, fruits that look like sausages grow on the tree. Some night flowers even smell like rotting
f lesh. Take the corpse flower. Its deep purple petals look like raw meat. Its center is a pillar of flowers. T ey smell like something dead. 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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