—234— 



Iv found in Yucca flowers ' and this list is ihc result of my own exami- 

 nations nightly and daily Tor many years as well as the result of the ob- 

 servations of others. It includes nor Honey-bee nor other Hymenop 

 tera. Neither Mr. T. Pergande nor Mr. E. A. Schwarz, who have often 

 issisted me in my observations (which cannot well be made alone), have 

 seen the honey-bee in these flowers. I would call upon Mr. Hulst to 

 state positively and plainly whether he has ever seen the honey bee within 

 the flowers of Yucca, or in any way carrying pollen which he recognized 

 to be that of Yucca 



Against his statement I will place my own that honey-bees are ven 

 rarelv seen even about the flowers, and this is in accord with the ob- 

 servations of Herman Mueller,and others, that it is not attracted to white 

 llowers. It might be ever so abundantly flying about the flowers with 

 out having anv possible connection with their pollination unless it gets 



within. 



Instead of stating that fertilization was effected by Pronuba alone 

 and "that every developed seed vessel bore evidence of the Moth by the 

 presence of the larvae within the capsule" I took particular pains to show, 

 in my very first article on the subject in 1872 a , that the fleshy-fruited 

 Yuccas exceptionally fructify without Pronuba. Subsequently, in 1880 1 

 explained how this might exceptionally occur. In proof I quote: 



"It is so very plain from the above quotations that, while I have 

 held and still maintain that it is the rule for our Yuccas to be pollinizec! 

 by Pronuba, I have nevertheless admitted that the rule is not without 

 exceptions. The rarity of Yucca-fructification in those parts of America 

 or in other countries where the plants are not indigenous and Pronuba 

 may be presumed not to occur; the uniform failure to fructify whenever 

 the moth has been excluded from the flowers both in my own experi- 

 ments and those of Mr. J. M. Milligan and of Mr. Meehan; and the 

 non-fructification, even where the moth exists, of those species which 

 bloom either before or after she appears all serve to emphasize the rule. 



I have also drawn attention to the occurrence of capsules non-in- 

 fested with the Pronuba larvae and explained why such are found. 4 . 



My statements in reference to the methods of ovi position and polli 

 nation and their consequences, resulted from the most careful studv. 



« Proc. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci., Vol. XXIX.. p. 626. 

 2 Trans. St. Ixmis Acad. Sci., Vol. III. 

 s Proc. Am. Ass Adv. Sci., Vol. XXIX.. p. 627. 

 •* Ibid, p. 623. 



