Together, they lined up an investment group of global financial firms, with Mr Flowers holding the largest single interest.

ECONOMIST: Face value

For example, honey resulting from various flowers is less expensive than from a single kind of flower.

FORBES: Today's Mystery: Europe's Bees Disappear Yet Honey Increases

When considered this way a single Ming wall panel covered with flowers, for example, is not only lovely to look at, but also a technical tour de force.

ECONOMIST: Chinese cloisonn��

Conversely, some flowers, like the showy, fragrant orchid Stanhopea embreei, native to Ecuador, are pollinated only by a single species of bee, in this case Eulaema bomboides.

NEWYORKER: Stung