alluring linden

alluring linden 

draws honeybees to bell blossoms--

exchanging gifts

It's National Pollinator Week and with the hot, sunny days the honeybees are out in full force. One of their favorite hangouts is a gigantic linden tree on campus. It must be at least 80 feet tall and so covered with yellow blossoms that the branches bend down to the ground. The flowers emit an intoxicating fragrance, which attracts me along with the honeybees. Each tiny flower looks like a round, brass Indian bell with a long clapper. The buds look like a Chinese knot button with five little bumps that open into petals which then split in the middle. Inside the "bell" there is a fringe of pollen-bearing anthers surrounding the long style. When the bee enters the blossom to gather nectar, she brushes against the sticky end of the stigma, depositing pollen. The tree has already put forth the long pale green "wings" that will carry the seeds. The linden is an incredibly hardy and long-lived tree, often grown in cities because it can withstand pollution. Hail to pollen-bearing plants and their life-sharing partnership with pollinators. We would not survive without either of them.

humble bumblebee

humble bumblebee

tirelessly pollinating

every blooming thing

Bumblebees are big and noisy and they can sting, more than once, though usually only to defend their nest. But these native North American bees are major pollinators and now they're in as much trouble as their European cousins, honeybees. The decline of these once numerous pollinators threatens not only our food supply but almost every blooming thing. Without pollinators the plant kingdom would be reduced to mosses, ferns and fungi. What would survive on that diet?
          The cause of the decline of bumblebees is not clear, but several factors play a major role: loss of wild habitat through monoculture farms and urban growth, the use of pesticides, parasites and fungus diseases, and last but not least, global warming.
          This is National Pollinator Week, a good time to appreciate all of our tireless pollinators. So plant some flowers today!