148 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



veins, the lower leaves are stalked, with lobes on 

 the leaf-stalk, the upper clasp the stem, and are 

 stalkless. They are coarsely toothed. 



The flowers are yellow, and sometimes have 

 crimson spots on the throat or mouth of the tube, 

 with a few on the lobes. The calyx is tubular, with 

 five teeth, and five-angled. The corolla is two- 

 lipped. The upper lip is erect or turned back with 

 two lobes, the lower one is spreading and three- 

 lobed. There are four stamens. The stigma has 

 two equal lamellae. The capsule is two-valved, and 

 contains many small, oblong seeds. 



The plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in July and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



The flower is conspicuous, and the spots may 

 serve as an attraction to insects. The flowers dre 

 adapted to bees. The stigma and anthers ripen simul- 

 taneously. As the stigma lies above the anthers and 

 projects it is likely to be touched first by an insect 

 visitor. The structure of the stigma is peculiar, 

 there being two plates which are sensitive. These 

 enclose pollen once it is deposited, and then re-open. 



The small seeds are wind-dispersed when the 

 capsule opens by the valves. 



MiMULUS LUTEUS. — In Fig. 41 note the ovate upper 

 leaves, clasping the stem, the flower with crimson spots on 

 the throat of the tube, and the two-lipped corolla and 

 tubular calyx. 



I 



