adobe soil. At one time, puzzled by the maze of form: 
vealed the absence of intermediate forms and the conste 
the two species were identical. Further observation 
_ important distinctions. Though Calochortus Gunnisont t 
from acute to acuminate, they are never obtuse as always eS 
chortus Nuttallii, and in spite of the difference in the size of | 
glands, in the shape, each species is distinct and invariable. 
To see the different kinds of insects hovering over these plants, 
alighting on the flowers and crawling slowly through the viscid 
hairs of the honey glands is to understand how this race of lovely 
hybrids came to be. Not in vain do these flowers set off their 
beauty and store their sweets. 
I believe that fertilization is produced only through the agency 
of insects and that cross fertilization prevails. It would be most 
interesting to experiment with these, as Darwin did with so many, 
and positively determine whether they are self sterile or self fertile. 
In the absence of actual proof, some facts that I observed may be 
suggestive: 
At the base of each anther is a small aperture which loosely fits 
over the pointed apex of the filament, so that the anther is on a 
pivot and can be easily turned. In the bud the flat surfaces of the 
anthers face the pistil; but, when the anthers open, the walls of the 
opposite cells cohere and the anthers are at right angles to their 
former position, the edges being opposite the pistil and the pollen 
covered surfaces facing each other. Buds that opened in the house 
maintained this position, but those observed in the field nearly al- 
ways had the pollen surfaces facing the pistil. Evidently, they did 
not turn when they opened; so they must have been acted upon 
by some external force. Watch a patch of these flowers for a short 
time and the insects can be seen turning the anthers as they alight 
and crawl through the flower. At the same time they become ~ : 
smeared with the sticky grains, and, of course, carry them from 
flower to flower. In certain localities the flowers are numerous, a. 
most in masses. I remember a field where once, 
‘*¢ Ten thousand, saw I, at a glance, 
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” 
This great abundance would insure pollen of Calochortus being 
carried to pistils of Calochortus only. I feel convinced, too, that the 
pollen has to be carried, whether to the pistil of its own flower or 
