1884 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



I'lG. 1795. — Asclepiiis curassavicn. Inflorescence. 



borne five anthers, and below these externally are five appendages which are 

 fused together to form a cuplike corona. The anthers are closely associated 

 with the top of the style and each of them contains a pair of platelike 

 pollinia which lie in the upturned side. The connective is produced up- 

 wards into a triangular membranous appendage, which is closely applied 

 to the top of the stylar knob. Each side of the anther is continued into a 

 leaflike wing, narrowing gradually above and vertical to the column of 

 filaments. The adjoining wings of every two anthers enclose between them 

 a narrow slit which widens below. These slits open internally into the 

 stigmatic cavity which is partly bounded by the stigmatic surface on the 







Fig. 1796. — Asclepias. Transverse section of one of the horny 

 cHps in which the legs of insect visitors are trapped. 



underside of the terminal expansion of the style. Lying in the upper part 

 of each slit, and visible externally, is a dark, bilaterally symmetrical, shiny 

 body which consists of a thin, hard, horny plate (Fig. 1796). Its sides are 



