ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS. 139 



will, I think, throw some light upon the opening and closing of the 

 Anagallis. He states, that " many petals are sensitive to warmth 

 in such a way, that any increase of temperature causes such a 

 curvature of the contractile organs as to place the petals in an 

 expanded and completely unfolded position, while any decrease 

 in the temperature produces the opposite curvature, causing the 

 petals to fold up," In the one case, we have the waking or 

 diurnal position, in the other the sleeping or nocturnal position. 

 As stated earlier in this paper, the Anagallis closes soon after 2 

 p.m., even in the hottest days, and remains closed until a little after 

 7 a.m. If the increasing heat of the sun expands the spiral fibre 

 of the corolla lobes so early in the day, there is a difficulty in 

 understanding why after 2 p.m., when the heat of the sun is still of 

 great intensity, the petals should gradually close into a sleeping 

 position. I shall, however, again refer to this movement when I 

 consider the fertilisation of the AnagaUis. 



The Calyx is divided into five sepals : inferior, regular, and 

 persistent. The sepals are lanceolate, of equal length with the 

 corolla lobes, and they form a close protection to the corolla. The 

 upper portions of the sepals are slightly membranous or chaffy, and 

 they are composed of large cells with thick cell-walls. On one 

 side of the sepals there is a papilla-like series of cells which render 

 them pretty objects for the microscope, and these cells are probably 

 useful in interlocking the sepals when folded up, and protecting 

 the corolla (see Fig. 11). 



The Organs of Reproduction consist of five stamens 

 inserted at the base of the corolla, the globose germen occupying 

 the centre. The filaments of the stamens are exquisitely beautiful. 

 From base to anther they are beautifully clothed with white and 

 purple hairs, simple cells united at their edges to form miniature 

 necklaces of pearls. In fresh flowers they present an irridiscent 

 beauty never to be forgotten. Fig. 1 2 will afford some idea of the 

 beauty of the filament decorations, but we lose a large portion of 

 the charm when looking at artistic productions or mounted 

 specimens. Each filament is surmounted by a heart-shaped anther 

 gorgeous as gold. The anther lobes are Hterally packed with 

 yellow pollen. When mounted in balsam the anthers polarise with 

 fine colours, and they are fringed with cells formed with as 



