If you want to attract someone’s attention, what do you do? Shout? Jump up and down? Wave like crazy? Flowers can’t do any of those things. Yet somehow, they get animals (even humans!) to visit.
They even get some of these visitors to hang around long enough to coat themselves with pollen. The animals then carry pollen to other flowers, helping the plant reproduce.
Flowers use many traps, tricks, and bribes to attract animals. One of those “bribes” is a sweet liquid called nectar. Color and smell are important. So are shape and size, and special attractions like landing pads. If you ever wonder why a flower looks or smells weird, consider this: who or what is it trying to attract?
