Flowers of 300 plant species representing 61 families were surveyed for their degree and pattern of reflection of near-ultraviolet (UV) light. Flowers were ranked in terms of four degrees of UV reflection and absorption. Yellow and violet flowers have the highest probability of reflecting UV, while white and green flowers generally reflect UV poorly. Pollination guides were generally nonreflective, independent of visible color. While independent of floral symmetry, UV reflection appears to be positively correlated with flower size. Although UV reflection probably occurs in all plant families, it appears to be more common in certain taxonomic groups. Like other floral colors, UV reflection and absorption seem to depend on both the physical structure and chemical composition of the petals.
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Guldberg et al. (1975) studied this question.