410 Transactions. — Botany. 



Now. if the development of the flowers be carefully watched, 

 a number of curious and interesting phenomena will be observed. 

 Before the flower-bud opens the corolla has nearly reached its 

 full size, and the flower lies in a slightly drooping position, or 

 with its axis horizontal. The front of the corolla -tube is closed 

 by the infolding of the corolla-lobes. The superior lobe lies 

 outermost, the lateral lobes of the lower lip lie within this, and 

 the strongly incurved inferior lobe lies innermost. The stamens 

 are already full-grown. The tips of the filaments are sharply 

 curved downwards, and the anthers, already beginning to dehisce 

 and shed their pollen, are held within the concave infolding of 

 the lowermost lobe of the under lip. 



The flower opens by the successive bending back of the lobes 

 of the corolla already mentioned. The deflexed filaments are 

 not elastic, and seem to take little, and probably no, part in 

 hastening the opening of the floral-box containing them. The 

 anthers are now ripe, and the pollen-sacs are gradually everted 

 so that most of the pollen falls, or is blown or is brushed a wax- 

 while the anthers stand in the axis of the corolla-tube. In the 

 course of a day or two the filaments straighten themselves out. 

 and finally lie along the upper internal surface of the corolla - 

 tube, and are closely appressed to it, eventually projecting a 

 little bevond the upper lip. The pollen meanwhile has all been 

 shed, and the anthers are shrivelled and withered. 



When the corolla has fully opened the secretion of nectar 

 begins, but it is scanty at first. The style at this stage is little 

 more than half-grown, and lies against the upper part of the 

 corolla-tube, between the two pairs of filaments. When the 

 corolla is fully expanded the style begins to elongate, and in two 

 or three days, when the filaments have completed their straight- 

 ening, it has grown as long as the stamens. When nearly full- 

 grown its tips begin to curve forwards towards the axis of tin- 

 flower, and ere long the style-branches open back in the axis of 

 the flower and develop their small terminal stigmatic surfaces 

 ready to receive any grains of pollen that may be brought in 

 contact with them. Throughout this development of the style 

 the secretion of nectar continues to be most abundant, and drops 

 of it will gradually fall out of the corolla-tube if the branches 

 are shaken. The secretion generally continues until the corolla 

 begins to wither. 



These are the facts disclosed by careful observation. We 

 see at once that the pollination of the pistil of a flower by pollen 

 from the anthers of the same flower is practically impossible. 

 for the pollen is matured and shed long before the pistil is full- 

 grown or ready for pollination. The movements by which the 

 anthers, and after a few days' interval the style-branches, are 



