THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



139 



numerous toward the throat of the flower where they end in 

 a blotch of yellow\ The pistil consists of the usual three carpels 

 with the styles and ovaries united but the deeply forked stig- 

 mas spread out at right angles to the style, like the spokes of 

 a wheel, above the six stamens. 



Although so late in blooming the flowers appear to have 

 no trouble in getting pollinated. That this is due to the good of- 

 fices of some insect is manifest for the stigmas are usually well 



The Toad Lily 



sprinkled with pollen grains before the stamens near by are 

 open. Cross pollination therefore seems to be the rule. 



There are some half d(3zen species of the genus to which 

 <^ur plant belongs. All are native to the Himalayas, China, or 

 Japan. The leaves suggest those of the straw flowers 

 (Uz'itlaria) and it is not surprising to learn that the plants 

 belong to the same division of the lilyworts. Like the other 

 plants of its division the underground parts are rhizomes and 

 not bulbs and as they branch rather freely, a single plant soon 



