A Stinky Trickster

Some stinky plants do more than lure insects with vile smells. They trap their insect visitors and hold them prisoner for a time, the wildflower known as Dutchman’s-pipe in an example. This plant’s usual flower is shaped something like an old-fashioned tobacco pipe, with a narrow neck leading to round chamber. When the flower first opens, the neck is carried upright and sends out a nauseating reek.

Gnats and other small flies rush into the neck, expecting to find something rotten to eat, and slip down into the chamber below. Then they can’t get out. The inside of the neck is covered with stuff, downward-pointing hairs that keep them from crawling back up. After a few days, the flower droops. The neck tips sideways and the stiff hairs inside it wilt. The flies can leave at last. Trapping the insecrs isn’t just a mean trick. A Dutchman’s-pipe flower produces its pollen only after its female parts are longer receptive.