 The large showy blossom cannot but attract the passing bee, whose favorite color (according to Sir John Lubbock) it waves.The bee alights on the convenient, spreading platform, and, guided by the dark veining and golden lines leading to the nectar, sips the delectable fluid shortly to be changed to honey.Now, as he raises his head and withdraws it from the nectary, he must rub it against the pollen-laden anther above, and some of the pollen necessarily falls on the visitor..."
On publication, monthly journal "The Plant World" described the book as "charming in its language, instructive and entertaining in its descriptions, and above all, fascinating in its wealth of beautifully executed illustrations," while "The New York Times" wrote that "this kind of a popular flower book has long been wanting in America."