An ambitious pollinator

The halo of yellow in this photo is a circle of very small flowers on top of a plant called a zinnia. When this common garden flower grows, it shoots up a stem that produces a beautiful flower at the highest point. A field of multicolored zinnias is a wonderful sight.

Seeds are produced at the attached ends of both the red petals called ray petals and the yellow seed head flowers called pollen florets. One zinnia seed head can produce hundreds of seeds. The zinnia plant which has been hybridized, now comes in various colors and heights. It originated in Mexico.

The skipper butterfly is a small pollinator insect that can usually be found near zinnias. You can see the long black promiscuous of this one extended into a yellow pollen floret. I took this photo the evening of Sept. 4 at the Community Flower Patch near Crooked Creek in Marble Hill, Missouri.