In North-Central Florida, the Cars, Homes, Streets, and Ponds Are

In north-central Florida, the cars, homes, streets, and ponds are covered with an impressive coating of bright yellow dust every spring. Upon closer, microscopic examination, the yellow "dust" turns out to be pollen grains. This area of Florida has pine trees, showy daytime-flowering plants, and often-unnoticed nighttime-flowering plants releasing pollen at the same time of year. Based on this information, which group of plants do you think is responsible for the yellow pollen? Why?

A) The pines; because conifers are pollinated by wind and must produce enormous amounts of pollen in order to ensure that some of it reaches the female cones.
B) The daytime-flowering plants; because they are more likely to be pollinated by birds if they produce lots of pollen for the birds to eat.
C) The nighttime-flowering plants; because they are more likely to be pollinated by bats and moths if they produce lots of pollen for them to eat.