l60 CLAYTONIA VIRGINICA. SPRING-BEAUTY. 



be closely watched in these movements, it will be seen that the 

 anthers shed their pollen on the petals, and that, when the petals 

 are drawn in at night, they brush against the stigma, and 

 deposit on it the pollen received from the anthers. This would 

 be regarded by some as an arrangement for insuring self-fertili- 

 zation. On the other hand, Mr. Wheeler, in the " Botanical 

 Gazette," reports that he has noticed a tendency to heteromor- 

 phism, by which term botanists understand the occurrence of a 

 variety of forms in the flowers of one and the same species. In 

 some cases the pistils are proportionately longer, and in others 

 shorter than the stamens; and in view of some experiments 

 made by Mr. Darwin and others on primroses, this is believed 

 to be an arrangement in favor of cross-fertilization. Hermann 

 Muller believes that many flowers enjoy a double advantage in 

 this respect, being so constructed that they can receive their 

 own pollen, in case the supply, which they were originally 

 intended to receive from another plant, should fail. It is not 

 for us to say here whether these views — any or all of them — 

 are wholly unobjectionable. Our chief object in these pages is 

 not to discuss theories, but to inform the reader of all that has 

 been learned about the plants we introduce to him, and to direct 

 his attention to matters which may be likely to interest him. 



We have ourselves noticed that in some seasons only the two 

 lower flowers mature seed, and the failure of the others to be 

 reproductive may have some relation to the heteromorphic con- 

 dition reported by Mr. Wheeler. 



The specimen from which our drawing was made came from 

 Pennsylvania. 



Explanation of the Plate. — i. Complete plant, with the bulb or corm. — 2. Capsule, 

 with a portion cut awa)', showing the position and small number of the seeds. — 3. Ver- 

 tical section of seed-vessel, showing its triangular form. — 4. Mature seed. 



