276 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1890. 



in great iniinber.s diirinc: the day, and numerous Lepidoptera by 

 night. But none seem to be pollen gatherers ; they collect nectar 

 only so far as we can see. The stigma and anthers extended so far 

 from the mouth of the corolla, are never touched by any insect and re- 

 ceive no insect aid whatever in pollination. The two earliest devel- 

 oping anthers are almost in contact with the stigma, Avhich is at least 

 quite as likely to receive pollen from them as from the other flower. 

 Granting, however, that pollen may come from other contiguous 

 flowers and reach the pistil before its own pollen has had the chance, 

 it is j)hysiologically of the same character, and could scarcely be 

 considered as coming within the scope of cross-fertilization. 



To my mind no deductions of economic value to the plant can be 

 drawn from these observations. 



On the Direction of the Spiral Twist in the Leaves 

 OF THE Norway Spruce. 



The true leaves of Pines are adnate, or perhaps more properly speak- 

 ing, connate with the branches. Occasionally the apex is free as a 

 mere membranous scale ; or when the branch is young, or under cir- 

 cumstances not well understood, but evidently influenced by various 

 phases of nutrition, instead of a mere scale, a regular green leaf, 

 often articulated, is produced from the free apex. When the axial 

 growth is arrested, the green leaves, having nothing to grow to, 

 develop as ordinary leaves would do, and then we have the fascicles 

 of Pine needles, or the verticils of leaves as in the Larch. The pine 

 " needles," spring from a spur as do the leaves of the Larch, only 

 that in the former the arrested Avoody axis is beneath the outer bark 

 and invisible. 



In the Norway Spruce, Picea excelsd, the adherent leaves are 

 arranged around the branches from left to right as we look at them, 

 or, as some would say, in a direction contrary to the sun. The free 

 portion — that above the articulation — remains strictly erect, as a 

 general thing, so far as the central or leading shoot is concerned. 

 "When the axial growth terminates, the membranous leaves having 

 no axis to adhere to, usually form the bud scales, which are arranged 

 as in miniature cones. We see that the cone of the Norway Spruce 

 is but an arrested and metamorphosed branch, in which what might 

 have been connate leaves, are now free and have become the bracts 

 beneath the scales of the cone. These bud scales do not, however, 

 always remain as scales, but develop to an articulation with a perfect 

 green leaf, as in the regular growth along the stems just as in the 



