BULLETIN 



OF THE 



TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



Vol- Vlll.l New York, February. 1881- [No. 2. 



I 



I 



4. The Fertilization of Alpine Flowers.— In a newly-published, 



large octavo volume of 612 pages,* Dr. Hermann Miiller 'makes us 

 acquainted with his observations on the relations between Alpine 

 flowers and insects, many of which, as well as some of the more 

 mportant of his conclusions are already known to readers of Nature^ 

 Kosmos^ etc. After describing the individual peculiarities of 422 spe- 

 cies of phaenogams (the descriptions being supplemented by many 

 excellent figures such as characterize his earlier work — the Befruch- 

 tung der Blumeri), and enumerating the insects found on each; the 

 author considers at length the significance of these peculiarities; dis- 

 cusses the adaptations of flowers to insect visits and the extent of 

 these visits; the adaptations of insects for floral activity; and the 

 variability of Alpine flowers; and makes an extended comparison of 

 Alpine flowers with those of the lowland. 



Much that is interesting might be culled from this part of the 

 work, but we must content ourselves with a very few extracts. As 

 . was to be expected, the author finds that everywhere, even to the 

 limit of phaenogamous life — the line of perpetual snow^-the rule 

 holds that cross-fertilization, constant or occasional, is provided for 

 in every species, so that not a single flowxring-plant is known which 

 is incapable of being crossed at sometime, A series from the sim- 

 plest anemopbilous flower, whose only attraction to insects lies in its 

 pollen^ to the most highly adapted bee or butterfly flower, with fra- 

 grance, attractive form and coloration, and nectar, is fully traced and 

 illustrated by many examples. A valuable feature of the work is the 

 large number of comparative tables, which bespeak a great amount of 

 labor on the part of the author, and enable the reader to see at a 

 glance, relations w^hich, without this aid, would require much study 

 for their detection. These show very clearly that as flowers ascend 

 in the scale of development, their visitors, though often decreasing in 

 actual number of species, become limited more and more to certain 

 groups whose floral activity is great, and from whose visits they re- 

 ceive the greatest profit. 



In spite of the frequently-recorded scarcity of insects at high al- 

 titudes, under some conditions, the author says: "I have not been 

 able to convince myself that, in the Alps, flowers as a whole are rela- 

 tively less visited and crossed by insects than in the lowland." This 

 results partly from the consolidation of vegetation into ^veritable 

 flower-gardens — a circumstance very favorable to insect visits any- 

 where; and it is found that while, in the pleasantest weather, a mod- 

 erately cool breeze suflices to quickly drive the insects under shelter, 

 a quiet, sunny day, coming suddenly after several cold and rainy 

 ones, brings them out in great abundance, their enforced conceal- 



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* Alpenblumen^ ihre Befrtichtung dttrch Insekten, unci Hire Anfjxsiungen an / / *** 

 dieselben. (Engelmann, Leipzig, i88t,) j ^ ' 



