Pollinated

Biotic pollination

Many flowers attract pollinators by odor. For example, orchid bee species such as Euglossa cordata are attracted to orchids this way, and it has been suggested that some orchid species intoxicate bees during visits which can last up to 90 minutes. However, in general, plants that rely on pollen vectors tend to be adapted to their particular type of vector, for example day-pollinated species tend to be brightly coloured and have little odor, but if they are pollinated largely by birds or specialist mammals, they tend to be larger and have larger nectar rewards than species that are strictly insect-pollinated. Night-blooming flowers have little color, but are often very aromatic. Plants with vertebrate pollinators also tend to spread their rewards over longer periods, having long flowering seasons; their specialist pollinators would be likely to starve if the pollination season were too short.