Moneses Uniflora, Wood Nymph

Day 276: Recorded from only a handful of locations in Mount Rainier National Park, Moneses uniflora resembles the Pyrolas, but prefers a darker, more moist habitat. Its shining white flowers provide the common name "Wood Nymph," for indeed it is both as elusive and beautiful as those legendary beings. The flowers are scented and highly attractive to bees, although the plant produces no nectar. In a phenomenon known as "buzz pollination," the downward-facing anthers shed their pollen when a bee vibrates its wings beneath the flower. The pollen falls on the bee's back where it can be picked up by the next plant the insect visits. Buzz pollination is a reproductive strategy employed by a number of plants which have poroidal anthers, i.e., anthers which emit pollen through a single pore or through narrow slits which insects cannot enter. Pollen is loosened only when the bee vibrates its wings at a specific frequency. Research on buzz pollination has shown that across plant species, different frequencies are required to effect pollen release, and thus may require a different insect as the vehicle for pollen exchange.