rOLLEN. 



335 



POLLEK. 



The bee can reach this only by divmg 

 down into it ahnost out of sight; and when 

 the coveted treasm-e is obtained it backs 

 out with a ludicrous kicking and sprawling 

 of its legs, and in so doing the down on its 



Fig. 3.— Cross Sections ok Dimorphic Flower (Primula 

 VULGARIS, Common Primrosi:), Order Pn'mulaceai. 



A, Long-styled Flower— i. Stigma; st, Style; a. Anther; o. 

 Ovary; pg. Pollen Grains, more Magnified. B, Short- 

 styled Form— a'. Anther; i', Stigma: st\ Style; o' , Ovary, 

 per', Pollen Grains, more Magnified. — From. Chcshirr. 



back is ruffled up the 

 wrong way. ^ow, this 

 would be pretty cer- 

 tain to get the pollen 

 dusted all over it ; but 

 nature, to make sure, 

 has planted a little 

 tuft that bears the pol- 

 len just on the upper 

 side of the entrance to 

 the flower, at A, and 

 as the bee struggles to 

 get out, white pollen 

 is brushed all over its 

 back most effectually, 

 to be carried to the 

 next flower, and so on. 

 But the Wild touch- 

 me not is only one of 

 hundreds of other 

 cases that are even 

 more remarkable. Mr. 

 Cheshire in his mag- ^' 

 nificent work, "■ Bees 

 and Bee - keeping," 

 Vol. I., gives a num- 

 ber of very interesting 

 examples. While he 

 appears to have drawn 

 from Charles Darwin 

 and Prof. Asa Gray, 

 his illustrations show- 

 ing how Nature has sought to prevent self- 

 pollination are so interesting and valuable, 

 especially as they show the service perform- 

 ed by the bee, that we reproduce them here: 



In Fig 3 we have a cross-section of what 

 is known as the common primrose [Primula 

 vulgaris), that furnishes an example of one 

 of the most remarkable cases of how Nature 

 has schemed to bring about cross- fertiliza- 

 tion. This is what is known as a 

 dimorphic flower, that is to say, 

 there are two forms of flowers on 

 the same plant. At A the stigma of 

 the female portion reaches up to 

 the mouth of the flower tube. The 

 anthers, or male portion, appear 

 about half way down the flower 

 tube as at a. At B we have just the 

 reverse : the stigma stands about 

 half way down the flower - tube 

 while the anthers are clear at the 

 top. The flower-tube itself is sup- 

 posed to be about the depth of the 

 reach of a bee's tongue. A bee 

 comes to A, reaches down at the 



Fig. 4.— Epilobium angustifolium (Rosebay Willow Herb), 



Order (Jnagtairw. 

 A, Young Flower—^, Stigma turned back; a. Anthers; /, Lobe, or Pod. 



B, Older Flower— s. Stigma, turned forward; a. Anthers: /, Lobe. 



C, Spike of Flowers. C, Se''tion of Pollen Grain— if. Extine: i, Iii- 

 tine; ti. Thick Intine; /, Fovilla. E, Growing Point of Pollen 

 Grain— e, 6, Extine: i, i, Intine; /, Fovilla; pt, Pollen Tube.— Che-ih ire. 



point for its nectar. The anthers half 

 way up dust the tongue at a point about 

 half way up its length. After the bee has 

 secured its coveted sweet, it passes to the 



