Wild shots

The petals of a lupine blooming in June near Fish Creek are shown in detail. Mary F. Willson, a retired professor of ecology, said after a bee visits and pollinates a flower, the banner petal turns from white to purple, indicating to future bees that the flower has already been visited. Bees then focus on the upper flowers, which still have nectar rewards and have yet to be pollinated. Thus the plant signals to its pollinators just which flowers are worth visiting.