Bucket Orchid

Description

This impressive bucket orchid is visited by male orchid bees attracted to the flower’s scent. The bees slip and fall into a water-filled bucket in the lower part of the flower, and to escape they must crawl through a narrow tunnel, where the orchid holds them while it glues its pollen packets onto their backs. Male orchid bees gather such scents with scraper hairs on their front legs and store them in their swollen hind legs.