532 Handbook of Nature-Study 



discharge their pollen in cobwebby strings. When the flower first opens, 

 the stigma is egg-shaped and lies below the anthers; later, it opens into a 

 cross and usually hangs off at one side of the anthers. If we try to trace 

 the style back to the ovary, we find that it extends down into what seems 

 to be the very base of the flower stem, where it joins the main stem. This 

 base is enlarged and ribbed and is the seed-box, or ovary. The tube is 

 rich in nectar, but only the long sucking-tubes of moths can reach it, 

 although I have sometimes seen the ubiquitous bees attempting it. The 

 butterflies may take the nectar in the daytime, for the blossoms of the 

 wild species remain open, or partially open, for a day or two. But the 

 night-flying moths which love nectar have the first chance, and it is on 

 them the flower depends for carrying its pollen, threaded on filmy strings. 



There are times when we may find the primrose blossoms with holes in 

 the petals, which make them look very ragged. If we look at such plants 

 carefully, we may find the culprit in the form of a green caterpillar very 

 much resembling the green tube of the bud ; and we may conclude, as Dr. 

 Asa Fitch did, that this caterpillar is a rascal, because it crawls out on the 

 bud-ends and nibbles into them, thus damaging several flowers. But 

 this is only half the story. Later this caterpillar descends to the ground, 

 digs down into it and there changes to a pupa; it remains there until the 

 next summer, then, from this winter cell, emerges an exquisitely beautiful 

 moth called the Alaria jlorida; its wings expand about an inch, and all 

 except the outer edges of the front wings are rose-pink, slightly mottled 

 with lemon-yellow, which latter color decorates the outer margins for 

 about one-quarter of their length ; the body and hind-wings are whitish 

 and silky, the face and antennae are pinkish. Coiled up beneath the head 

 is a long sucking-tube which may be unfolded at will. This moth is the 

 special pollen-carrier of the evening primrose; it flies about during the 

 evening, and thrusts its long, tubular mouth into the flower to suck the 

 nectar, meanwhile gathering strings of pollen upon the front part of its 

 body. During the day, it hides within the partially closed flower, thus 

 carrying the pollen to the ripened stigmas, its colors meanwhile protecting 

 it almost completely from observation. The fading petals of the prim- 

 rose turn pinkish, and the pink color of the moth renders it invisible when 

 in the old flowers, while the lemon-yellow tips of its wings protruding from 

 a flower still fresh and yellow, forms an equally perfect protection from 

 observation. 



The evening primrose is an ornamental plant in both summer and 

 winter. It is straight, and is ordinarily three or four feet tall, although it 

 sometimes reaches twice that height. It is branched somewhat, the 

 lower portion being covered with leaves and the upper portion bearing the 

 flowers. The leaves are pointed and lanceolate, with few whitish veins. 

 The leaf edges are somewhat ruffled and obscurely toothed, especially in 

 the lower leaves. The leaves stand up in a peculiar way, having a short, 

 pink petiole, which is swollen and joins the stalk like a bracket. The 

 upper leaves are narrower; the leafy bracts at the base of the flower grow 

 from the merest slender leaflet at the base of the bud, to a leaf as long as 

 the seed-pod, when the flower blooms. 



The seed-capsules are four-sided, long and dark green. In winter they 

 are crowded in purplish-brown masses on the dry stalks, each one a grace- 

 ful vase with four flaring tips. At the center of each there projects a 

 needlelike point; and within the flaring, pale, satin-lined divisions of 



