125 



Hi/dirjpluiliuii tipiiciKlienluni Miclix. is proterandroui?. When tlie 

 flower first comes into bloom the pistil is about oue-lialf the length of the 

 mature stamens. The dehiscing' anthers are gray with pollen, which dis- 

 appears within six hours. By the time the pollen is gone the pistil has 

 grown to the same length as the stamens, the two lobes of the stigma are 

 recurved and ready for eross-poUenation. Bees are the pollen carriers, 

 which they get from the anthers of flowers that bloom at irregular hours 

 throughout the day. A plant in my yard began to bloom early in May 

 and was still producing a few flowers August Sth. During dry weather 

 in July, the tto-wers were less than one-half the normal size, the tube 

 very much shortened, and in others the corolla changed from campanulate 

 to rotate. 



roJcmoniinn reptoDS L. The stamens are not as long as the pistil. 

 Dehiscence begins when the corolla is about half open, and before the 

 lobes of the stigma are recurved. Later the stamens are bent outward and 

 the pistils left to occupj- the center field. Honey-bees enter the half- 

 blown flowers and come out well dusted with pollen, Avhich they carry to 

 the older flowers. Invariably, when a bee comes to a plant, it pays its 

 respects first to the half-blown flower, and may not visit the older ones at 

 all. It seems to know that they have been exhausted of nectar. As it en- 

 ters the slenderly supported flower it clasps all the organs at once, and its 

 movements are about as graceful as those of the humble-bee. 



The pistil of Lysimachia qiKidrifoIiit Jj. and of />. tcfrcstris (L.) B. S. V. 

 when the flowers first open are sharply curved to one side by a liend 

 near the middle of the style. After the anthers have shed their iiollen 

 the pistil is erected and the stigma in position for cross-fertilizatiDii ;)y 

 the insect-visitor. That this may be accomplished, the blooms last for 

 ■several days. 



The sliiniatic lobes of SSuhhtitid dinjiihiris (I..) PinsJi. are as lung or 

 longer than tlie supporting style and tlie whole pistil only about one half 

 the length of the stamens Avlien tlie lh)wer first opens. To make it 

 doubly sure that self-poUenation sliall not occur, the lobes are closely 

 twisted together until the coiled anthers have unrolled and shed their 

 1 ollen. In the meantime the pistil has increased in length and the lobes 

 curved back at right angles to the style. The lobes are stigmatic along 

 the inner side, and remained twisted after they are recurved, so that an 

 insect passing over or under them with pollen on its back or uniUn' jtarts, 

 would be likely to effect fertilization. ]\Iany of the flowers are in bloom 



