51 



violet-purple, shading below into lavender, but with the dark color 



resumed in the throat. The 

 lower lobe shows a sort of 

 arched portion extending 

 down towards the ovary. With 

 the exception of this conspic- 



dark 



uous 

 much 



It 



of 



IS 



than the 



Mig* Si 



WifJ, € 



margm, 

 lighter color 

 rest of the corolla. 



One who has given any at- 

 tention whatever to the cross- 

 fertilization of flowers by 

 means of insects, would at 

 once suspect this plant of some 

 neat mechanism. The irreg- 

 ular and showy corolla and 

 the peculiar stamens warrant 

 an investigation. The stamens 

 ,(didynamous) are extremely 

 unequal in length. The lower 

 pair arches and converg e s 

 under the upper lobe of the cor- 

 olla, in the form of a bow, while 

 the shorter pair is included in 



the tube. Both have the anthers contiguous and, indeed, quite co- 

 herent^^o that it requires some little effort to separate them. The 

 lobes in either pair are so far divergent as to present themselves end 

 to end, in a vertical position. The connective is large and broad. 

 Each of the outer pair of filaments shows some distance above its 

 adnation to the corolla, a filiform appendage, pointing forward and 

 sh'ghly inward. Pressure upon these, one at a time, or better, upon 

 both simultaneously, at onc^ deflects the staminate bow, which, upon 

 removal of the exciting force, resumes its normal position. It Avould 

 seem as if a large insect like a bee, visiting this flower, and alighting 

 upon the convenient platform of the lower corolla-lobe, and strad- 

 dling its arch, as he would have to do, would of necessity touch the 

 filiform processes, depressing these little levers, and by throwing the 

 anthers forward, receive more or less pollen on his back. I take the 

 flower to be proterandrous, and think the anthers of the larger stamens 

 open first. I have assured myself of the fact that the two-lipped 

 stigma^does not open until at least the second day after anthesis. It 

 then bends forward from its hitherto erect position. The 



style 



is 



kept in place by the shorter stamens, which themselves form a bow, 

 as will be seen in the figure. They do not, however, prevent the de- 

 flection of the stigma. Around the base of the ovary is an annular disk, 

 within which a shallow cup is formed, perhaps containing nectar, but 

 this I have not proved. The shorter pair of stamens, it should be 

 said, has no appendage. 



It so happens that my attention has been directed to Torenia so 

 late in the season that I have not been able to determine what kind 



of insects would here visit it- What \% here written is merely to 



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