Darwin & Drinks: Flowers and their pollinators

Charles Darwin was one of the first to demonstrate how intimately the lives of flowering plants and pollinators are connected. The palette of bright colours and powerful perfumes entice insects and other animals to visit flowers. Today, everyone is aware that pollinators such as bees and other insects play a crucial role in the sex life of flowering plants. But in Darwin’s time, almost nothing was known about this strange ménage à trois. At the time, it was still widely believed that floral beauty was placed in nature by an omnipotent Creator for our pleasure.