"What mainly interests me is the evolutionary significance of toxins in nectar & pollen"

Almost all flowers are someplace between fairly toxic and highly toxic to mammals.  In general flowers are much more toxic than leaves or stems to mammals.  In a few cases the flower petals are safe to eat but the rest of the flower is toxic.  In general it is best to avoid eating any flowers unless you find them in the vegy section at your grocery store.  Here is a warning I ran across for one flower which is considered edible.

" NOTE: Frequent consumption of linden flower tea can cause heart damage."

Every one of the fragrances found in honey is toxic if consumption is excessive.  Those chemicals are put there by plants mainly to inhibit bacteria and fungal growth in the flower.  In most cases the flower is the only part of the plant that produces such chemicals. In some cases excessive consumption is very little.  In some cases flowers produce chemicals aimed at killing anything that tries to eat those flowers. Examples would be those flowers which produce hydrogen cyanide or nicotine or opium or any of literally thousands of other known alkaloids.

Dick



HL Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed — and hence clamorous to be led to safety — by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. "

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