A POLLINATING CONTRAST 



By Albert A. Hansen. 



OXE day last spring, while tramping through the woods, 

 I came across a most unusual sight. On the side of a 

 stream was a skunk cabbage in full flower, while close by was a 

 beautiful pink lady's slipper whose corolla had just unfolded, 

 displaying its matchless beauty. It was a rare sight, indeed, to 

 find these two harbingers of spring flowering at the same time, 

 since the skunk cabbage forms its flowers so early that they fre- 

 quently may be seen breaking through the late winter snows. 



Nature being so bountiful in her flowering gifts, I decided 

 to study something of the pollinating habits of these strangely 

 contrasted plants. It is well known that whereas the lady's 

 slipper blossom is truly a flower, the so-called flower of the 

 skunk cabbage is in reality an aggregation of flowers, mounted 

 on a central column, the whole surrounded by an outer fleshy 

 covering, the spathe. True to its name, the skunk cabbage is 

 an ill-smelling plant, emitting an odor similar to that of a 

 skunk, combined with a strong suggestion of garlic, the whole 

 reminding one of the smell of decaying meat. This deception 

 is further carried out by the streaked reddish, flesh-like appear- 

 ance of the spathe. Knowing that most flowers are dependent 

 upon insects for the transference of their pollen, I wondered 

 what strange types of insects could possibly be attracted to this 

 malodorous plant, with its putrid-meat-like cloak of deception. 

 My observations were quickly rewarded, for a scavenger beetle 

 soon climbed awkardly along the twisted edge of the spathe, 



