30 THE REPORT OF THE [ No. 19 



like tassels of pale green silk to catch the pollen that descends. No bees meddle with 

 these anemophilous blosboms ; and it will be observed that they possess none of those 

 things which attract insects, viz , bright colours, nectar and perfume. 



Usually the seeds of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) are sown here and there among the 

 corn, and the plants from them trail far upon the ground. The flowers of the pumpkin 

 also are of two kinds, male and female, growing upon the same plant ; but it is evident 

 from the nature and position of the plants that the wind cannot effect pollination in 

 their case : the agency of insects is necessary ; and the blossoms are large and showy, 

 and well designed to attract the bee. 



Again in numerous instances the male blossoms grow upon one plant, and the fe- 

 males upon another of the same kind. Every grower of hop3 knows that for successful 

 cultivation he must have male plants intermingled with the female. The proportion is, 

 if I remember rightly, one in ten, or one in twelve. 



The willow and the poplar are familar examples of plants of the kind we are speak- 

 ing of. Who has not rejoiced to see, in the early spring, the golden catkins of the male 

 willows, for they are tokens that " the summer is now nigh at hand ]" 



The country people in the south of England call the flower-laden branches of the 

 willow " palms," for the blossoms come about Palm Sunday ; and in olden times branches 

 Jaden with them were carried to the churches, to represent the palms carried before our 

 Lord on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In this word palms so applied we have a 

 local popular name that would puzzle any to whom the circumstances of its application 

 were unknown. And, with reference to this, if I may digress for a moment, 1 wish to 

 point out that Mrs. William Starr Dana in that bright and useful little work entitled 

 " How to know the Wild Flowers " has made a curious mistake for want of a little old- 

 country " folk-lore." On page 124 she takes pains to shew that the word Marigold comes 

 from " the Anglo-Saxon mere a marsh " and that the whole name may signify marsh-gold. 

 Which (nhe sayf) " would be an appropriate and poetic title for this shining flower of the 

 marshes," (p. 124). But Marigold simply means Mary-gold — the flowers of Caltha 

 palustris having been used by our forefathers to garnish the churches on Lady Day 

 (March 25ib), just as the Pasque Flower was used at E*ster, and the Michaelmas Daisy 

 on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (Sept. 29th). 



" The Michaelmas Daisie amon^ dede weeds, 

 Blooms for St. Michael's valorous deeds, 

 And seems the last of flowers that stood 

 Till the feste of St. Simoo and St. Jude " — 



says an Old English Kalendar. But to return — 



The willow-blooms are pollinated by means of insects. Small bees of the genera 

 Andrena, Osmia, etc., as well as the honey-bee, frequent them in the day time, to obtain 

 "bee-bread for their young and nectar for their own delectation ; and in the dusk of the 

 evening hibernated noctuids resort to them for refreshment. 



It is a common thing for European Entomologists to spread a sheet under the willow 

 boughs at night, and then by a sudden jar upon the limbs to bring down a shbwer of 

 moths. The drowsy insects lie inert whilst the operator with the aid of a lantern selects 

 from them such as be fancies. 



All these insects fly from flower to flower and from tree to tree and convey the 

 pollen from the male to the female blossoms. 



The poplars also are of two sorts, male and female — the staminate flowers growing 

 on one and the carpellary flowers on the other. But in this case the blossoms are of 

 unattractive colouring. They have no nectaries ; and tBe pollen is light and dry. The 

 wind is the agent of pollination in this case. 



We have glanced then at three kinds of blossoms : — 



Perfect — in which stamens and carpels grow in the same flower. 



Moro3ciou8 — distinct male and female blossoms growing on the individual plant. 



Dioecious — one plant producing male blossoms only, and another only females. 



We have also noticed two m^ans of pollination — (I) the agency of in'^ects ; (2) the 

 agency of the wind. In some kinds of bisexual blossoms self-pollination takes place, as 

 in the Mallow ; but with these we have not now to do. Our attention is to be given to 

 the insect-pollinated flowers. 



