Countless wild flowers are considered of little overall economic significance, even after admitting that the landscape would indeed be drab without them. However, in addition to their beauty they prevent erosion of the soil, and provide seeds, nuts, and fruit for wildlife. For example, Knott (1950) stated that 10 of the most heavily used species of noncultivated plants providing food for quail and pheasant were found in the following plant families: Amaranthaceae, Gramineae, Leguminosae, Polygonaceae, and Rosaceae. The first two families are basically anemophilous, but the others are entomophilous. Manning (1943) and Yeager (1937) also listed numerous forest plants dependent upon or benefited by insect pollination for production of fruits, nuts, or seeds - a goodly percentage of which make up the diets of squirrels, bears, and raccoons (Knott l950).

Hassan (1972) reported that parasitic hymenoptera utilize pollen and nectar of wild flowers. He stated that the populations of these insects are highest in crops near these food sources, and he inferred that an ample supply of nectar and pollen increased their longevity and productiveness.

Equally significant is another often overlooked part that wild flowers play in the ecological relationship of an area. Their nectar and pollen provide the continual supply of vital food needed by insect pollinators. In turn, the insects serve as pollinating agents for numerous species of these plants (see table 3), and contribute to their survival and genetic prosperity. Darwin (1889*) recognized the significance of this bee-- flower relationship and mentioned bees on at least 87 different pages and pollinating insects even more often. More present day "Darwins" are needed to proclaim the relationship of the whole ecological environment to the pollination of our numerous commercial crops.

Wildflowers are of great importance to the grower of cultivated crops benefited by insect pollination. The abundance of his fruit crop in the spring may be strongly affected by nearby wildflowers of the previous fall that supplied nectar and pollen on which the local bees overwintered. A melon or cranberry crop may be a profit or loss, depending on the volume of previous inconspicuous wildflowers on which wild bee populations might increase.

The major nectar and pollen sources are well known to the beekeeping fraternity. Numerous books and State experiment station bulletins have been written primarily for beekeepers listing plants from which honey bees are known to obtain surplus honey crops or from which the bees collect sufficient nectar and pollen to affect a material increase in the colony population. Regardless of the area that might be considered, if the pollinating insects had at their disposal only the nectar and pollen plants that have been listed in such publications, these insects would be unable to prosper. For them to attain prosperity and contribute to the pollination of commercial crops, there needs to be an almost daily source of many flowering plants throughout the growing season.

This relationship is revealed in a very dramatic way in the production of almonds in California. Almonds bloom early in the calendar year (January to April) when there are few native insects present to pollinate this crop. The almond growers have come to depend largely upon honey bees for this task. Too often, the honey bee colonies that are used do not have a strong population of bees. One of the primary reasons is that the colonies were deprived of an adequate source of nectar and pollen from fall wildflowers. Unless the colonies can find plants in bloom throughout the fall months from which they can continually collect fresh pollen and nectar, the number of larvae that can be fed is small and the colony is unable to reach adequate strength. Then, even if a food supply becomes available in the early spring, the colony population is inadequate to collect large amounts. Thus, once the colony becomes weak it has difficulty taking advantage of the short flowering period of plants.

Ornamentals are seldom present in sufficient abundance in rural areas to be of material significance to the pollinating insects. Bees are more fortunate near urban or suburban areas where a somewhat continuous although meager supply is usually available. In return for this food supply, pollinators contribute to the beauty of numerous ornamentals by enabling them to set fruit or seed that enhance their attractiveness. The pollinators also service vegetable gardens and nearby farm crops and contribute to the commercial production of ornamental flower seeds, which is a business in excess of $1 million.

Table 3 lists some of the wildflowers and ornamentals dependent upon or benefited by insect pollination. There are doubtless hundreds of others.

Wildflowers that produce pollen and nectar for the pollinating insects need not be, and often are not, eye-catchingly attractive. For example, the flowers of American holly (Ilex opaca Ait., family Aquifoliaceae) are scarcely noticeable to us, but they are highly attractive to honey bees. The flowers of numerous grasses are largely unnoticed yet they may be an excellent source of pollen. Puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris L. ) is a detested prostrate weed of the Southwest, but its tiny, pale-yellow flowers are an excellent source of nectar and pollen for bees. The pollen from flowers of the willow trees (Salix spp.) is equally as valuable as that from the more noticeable pestiferous dandelions (Taraxacum officinale Weber).

Numerous studies on the nutritional value of pollens have shown they are quite different chemically (Standifer 1966, Todd and Bretherick 1942). They influence length of life and development of adult worker honey bees (Standifer 1967) and also influence hypopharyngeal glands that supply broodfood of developing larvae (Standifer et al. 1970). Because of these and probably other nutritional differences in pollens, it appears that the pollinating insects benefit from foraging on a variety of plants. This has never been proven by tests, but beekeepers generally agree that their colonies become most populous in areas where mixed wildflowers are most numerous.

As a practical application, a grower who desires colonies of honey bees of maximum strength for the pollination of his crop would want them to have been foraging previously in an area with the greatest possible mixture of flowers. Usually, cultivated crops do not provide as great a mixture of flowers as can be found in wasteland. The grower who does not arrange for colonies of honey bees to be placed in or near his field for their use as pollinators should be particularly interested in having wildflowers on or near his farm to support the wild bees and other pollinating insects.

[gfx] TABLE 3.--Some wild flowers and ornamentals dependent upon insect pollination for seed production

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_____MCGREGOR, S. E., and OLIN, G.
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ALLEN, P. H.
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BAKER, H. G.
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BEAL, W. J.
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BEILMAN, A. P.
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BRAY, W L.
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COLEMAN, E.
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CROSSWHITE, F. S., and CROSSWHITE, C. D.
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DOWDEN A. O.
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EDGECOMBE, S. W.
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GIBSON, P. B., and CHI- CHANG CHEN.
1971. REPRODUCTION AND CYTOLOGY OF TRIFOLIUM UNIFLORUM. Crop Sci. 11: 69-70.

GODFREY, M. J. 1929. POLLINATTON OF CRYPTOSTYLIS LEPTOCHILA. Orchid Rev. 37(432): 163-166.

GRANT, V., and GRANT, K. A.
1965. FLOWER POLLINATTON IN THE PHLOX FAMILY. 180 pp. Columbia University Press, New York and London.

HASSAN, E.
1972. THE IMPORTANCE OF WILD FLOWERS AND BUSH GROWTH AS A SOURCE OF FOOD FOR ADULT PARASITIC HYMENOPTERA. In 14th Internatl. Cong. Ent. (Abstracts), Canberra, Australia, Aug. 22-30. p. 214.

HURD, P. D., JR., and LINSLEY, E. G.
1963. POLLTNATION OF THE UNICORN PLANT (MARTYNIACEAE) BY AN OLIGOLECTIC, COROLLA-CUTTTNG BEE (HYMENOPTERA: APOIDEA). Kans. Ent. Soc. Jour. 36: 248-252.

KNOTT, M. P.
1950. WILDLIFE AND ITS DEPENDENCE ON SEED PRODUCTION. In lowa State Apiarist Rpt., 1949, pp. 139-140.

LEPPTK, E. E.
1955. DICHROMENA CILIATA, A NOTEWORTHY ENTOMOPHILOUS PLANT AMONG CYPERACEAE. Amer. Jour. Bot. 42: 455 - 458.

LOVELL, J. H., and LOVELL, H. B.
1932. THE POLLINATION OF RHODORO. Rhodora (Journal of the New England Botanical Club) 36(407): 213 - 214.

_____1934. THE POLLINATION OF KALMIA ANGUSTIFOLIA. Rhodora 36(422): 25-28.

MACIOR, L. W.
1970. THE POLLINATION ECOLOGY OF DICENTRA CUCULLARIA. Amer. Jour. Bot. 57(1): 6 - 11.

MANNING, L. E.
1943. YOUR SHADE TREES: ALL THAT FLOWERS DOES NOT FRUIT. Amer. Forests 49(10): 492 - 493.

MARSDEN-JONES, E. M.
1926. ON THE POLLINATION OF PRIMULA VULGARIS HUDS. Linn. Soc. London, Jour. Bot. 47 (316): 367 - 381

MATHER, K.
1947. SPECIES CROSSES IN ANTIRRHINUM. I. GENETIC ISOLATION OF THE SPECIES MAJUS, GLUTINOSUM AND ORONTIUM. Heredity 1, part 11: 175-186.

MCGREGOR, S. E., and ALCORN, S. M.
1959. PARTIAL SELF-STERILITY OF THE BARREL CACTUS. Cactus and Succulent Jour. 31 (3): 88

_____ALCORN, S.M., and OLIN, G.
1962. POLLINATION AND POLLINATING AGENTS OF THE SAGUARO. Ecology 43: 259-267.

NORTH, C.
1951. THE GROWING OF SOME FLOWER SEED CROPS. Natl. Inst. Agr. Bot. Jour. 6(1): 72 - 85.

NYE, W. P., and BOHART, G. E.
1962. OBSERVATIONS OF THE VISITS OF HONEY BEES AND BUMBLE BEES TO BLADDER SENNA (COLUTEA ARBORESCENS). Ent. Soc. Amer. Ann. 55: 259-261.

OVERLAND, L.
1960. ENDOGENOUS RHYTHM IN OPENING AND ODOR OF FLOWERS OF CESTRUM NOCTURNUM. Amer. Jour. Bot. 47: 378 - 382.

SCHNELL, L.
1943. SELF-STERTLITY IN VINCA ROSEA. Okla. Acad. Sci. Proc. 23: 21.

SINCLAIR, C. B.
1968. POLLINATION, HYBRIDIZATION AND ISOLATION AS FACTORS IN THE ERECT TRADESCANTIAS. Torrey Bot. Club Bul. 95(3): 232-240.

SPARNAAIJ, L. D., KHO, Y. O., and BAER, J
1968. INVESTIGATIONS ON SEED PRODUCTION IN TETRAPLOID FREESIAS. Euphytica 17(2): 289-297. 49

STANDIFER, L. N.
1966. SOME LIPID CONSTITUENTS OF P0LLEN C0LLECTED BY HONEYBEES. Jour. Apic. Res. 5: 93-98.

_____1967. A COMPARISON OF THE PROTEIN QUALITY OF POLLENS FOR GROWTH-STIMULATION OF THE HYPOPHARYNGEAL GLANDS AND LONGEVITY OF HONEY BEES, APIS MELLIFERA 1. (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE). Insectes Sociaux 14: 415 - 426.

______MACDONALD, R. H., and LEVIN, M. D.
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STOUT, A. B.
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TODD, F. E., and BRETHERICK, O.
1942. THE COMPOSITION OF P0LLENS. Jour. Econ. Ent. 35: 312-317.

VEERMAN, A., and ZON, J. C. J. VAN,
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WOODELL, S. R. J.
1960. WHAT P0LLINATES PRIMULAS? New Scientist 8: 568 - 571.

YEAGER, A. F.
1937. P0LLINATION STUDIES WITH N. DAKOTA FRUITS. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc. 35: 12 - 13.