Hobbies And Interests
The Paw-paw Tree
Popularized by a child's song, the paw-paw (Asimina triloba) is a small tree that grows in the hardwood forests of the Eastern and Central United States. Its purple flowers emit an odor that smells like rotten flesh, thus attracting carrion flies, which visit the flower in search of decomposing animal tissue. While exploring the central part of the flower, the small insects inadvertently pick up some pollen and then transfer the reproductive material to the pistil (female part) of the next flower that they visit. The paw-paw has a very low rate of reproduction, but tree growers have discovered that by placing dead fish and roadkill near the blooming flowers, they can increase the incidence of seed formation.
Skunk Cabbage
Skunk cabbage, a common herb of the North American forest understory, not only has a large, smelly leaf but also a pungent, purple flower that attracts flies, spiders and crawling insects. The flies lay their eggs in the large purple mass of a flower and then depart the plant with a precious load of pollen, headed for the next plant, where the process of pollination can continue.
More Purple Flowers in the North Woods
The Eastern Woodlands have flowers such as the red trillium (Trillium erectum) and the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, which attract flies and gnats with their dark, red to purple, pungent flowers. The combination of the dark flowers and pungent smell that resembles rotting flesh acts to attract many insects that naturally feed on decaying animal tissue. However, there is more to fly pollination than the smell of rotten flesh, for some of this large group of insects also pollinate aromatic and light-colored flowers.
Pollinated By Midges
Midges are small flies that are naturally attracted to fungus. The cocoa plant, which is native to South America, produces small white flowers that smell like fungus. The flowers occur on the trunk of tree, where they attract the midges, which pollinate the flowers. Without the tiny fly, the cocoa plant could not bear fruit.
Flower Flies
These are two-winged flies that often closely resemble wasps or even bumble bees, but yet they have no stinger. Their only defense is that they look like a stinging insects, so predators leave them alone. The flower fly even has the ability to hover right near a flower in the same way that a bee does. This type of fly is common in North America and often visits white, showy flowers that produce nectar.