H20150501-0030—Carpenter bee (Xylocopa sp) visiting Horkelia parryi—RPBG

What happens when the bee is bigger than the flower. Here is what I believe to be a carpenter bee nectaring on Horkelia parryi. The Jepson Manual, 2nd ed., gives the size of the petals as 4-7 mm so the maximum breadth of the a flower is less that 20 mm (or around 3/4"). Horkelia parryi is included in the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA and elsewhere). Photographed at Regional Parks Botanic Garden located in Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley, CA.

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