1334 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



which includes such genera as Datura, Siletie, Nicotiana, Saponaria and 

 Oenothera. In most instances the flowers have very long corollas and the 

 stamens and stigma protrude well beyond the limits of the petals. The 

 moths which visit these flowers do not, as a rule, settle on them, but hover 

 in front of them like Humming Birds, darting their tongues deep into the 

 corolla while remaining almost motionless in front of the flower. 



Lilium martagon (Fig. 1245) may be cited as a striking example of the 

 first group. The flowers are large and pendulous. The perianth consists of 



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Fig. 1245. — Lilium »i(iitni>oi!. Moth taking nectar from a petal pouch. The body and wings 

 of the insect contact the versatile anthers. Note that the style and stigma are bent to 

 one side so that in the post-staminate stage the stigma will contact a visiting moth. 

 (After Ross and Mori 11.) 



six large segments which are purple in colour and marked with deeper purple 

 spots. These perianth segments curve backwards and on the adaxial surface 

 of each there is a nectary about 1 5 mm. long. It consists of a groove which is 

 closed by the folding together of its edges and by a thick growth of reddish 

 hairs, thus producing a nectar-filled tube, the open end of which is only 

 about a millimetre across. The six stamens have long stiff filaments and the 

 anthers are versatile, dangle freely, and stand out well beyond the limits of 

 the perianth. The style is a long stiff' rod which projects a little beyond the 

 anthers. A moth visiting the flower may alight on the perianth, or it may 

 hover while it thrusts its tongue down one nectar groove after another. 

 The flower is protogynous, so that in the early stage the stigma will receive 



