FLY FLOWERS 



85 



There are some fly flowers that are sometimes spoken of as prison, 

 or ]:)itfall, flowers. The spotted arum (Arum macidatum), a native 

 of Euroi)e, is one of these. This plant has its flowers on a spadix 

 in a spathe, in a manner comparalile to our Jack-in-the-pulpit. The 

 pistiUate flowers are near the base of the spadix. A Httle higher up 

 are the staminate flowers and a short distance above the staminate 

 flowers the spathe is constricted. There is a cluster of hairs on the 

 spadix at the point where the spathe is constricted. These point 



Fig. 34. — Dutchman's pipe {Aristolochia macrophylla) . A fly flower. (From 

 The Flower and the Bee, by John H. Lovell; copyright, 1918, by Charles 

 Scribner's Sons. By permission of author and publisher.) 



downward and practically fill the spathe at that point. There is 

 also a similar cluster of hairs between the group of staminate flowers 

 and the pistillate flowers. 



The small flies which bring about pollination in this plant easily 

 enter the spathe and pass down to the pistillate flowers where they 

 feed upon the nectar. Their exit, however, is prevented by the stiff 

 hairs. The pistillate flowers mature first and the lowest cluster of 

 hairs then withers. This permits the flies to come up to the stam- 

 inate flowers where they become dusted with pollen. Later the upper 



