The Round-Headed Rampion 



{PHITEUMA ORBICULARE) 



In England we have only two kinds of Rampion and both 

 are rare, but in Switzerland there are no less than ten 

 different species, with blue and white flowers, and some of 

 them are extremely abundant. One of the commonest of 

 the blue-flowered varieties is here photographed. It grows 

 in mountain pastures and poor meadows befween 3000 and 

 8000 feet, and is found not only in the Alps but all over 

 Central Europe, though absent in the North. It flowers in 

 July, and the size of the plant undergoes considerable varia- 

 tion according to the altitude at which it grows. Sometimes 

 the flower-stalks are but 3 or 4 inches long, at others 16 

 or 18. The leaves, which grow from the root stock, have 

 serrated edges, and are frequently a good deal larger than 

 those of the specimen photographed. The methods adopted 

 by the plant for the distribution of its pollen and the 

 fertilisation of its seeds through the agency of insect visitors 

 are of particular interest. Each flower of the flower-head 

 is formed of a blue tubular structure (corolla), which is at 

 first closed above. In the centre of this is the style covered 

 by short hairs and surrounded by the five stamens. While still 

 in the bud the stamens shed their pollen, which collects in 

 the tube around the style and is retained in positioii by the 

 short hairs. Now the flower opens at its tip, and while 



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