SWEET VIOLET 19 
The insects visiting it are Hymenoptera (Apida), Diptera (Bomby- 
lide), Lepidoptera (Small Tortoise-shell Butterfly, Vanessa urtice, 
Brimstone, Ahodocera rhamnz). To prevent rain reaching the honey 
the flower is borne on a long stalk, and the pollen is by this means 
allowed to fall and to be secreted between the free ends of the 
stamens and the pistil, ie. not at their base. The pollen is loose 
and dry, assisting it to remain between the anthers and the pistil. 
The style is thin below, for insects to bend it, and is curved. The 
Photo. J. H. Crabtree 
Sweet VIOLET (Vola odorata, L.) 
membranous extremity of the upper anther-stalks overlaps the ends 
of the two middle stigmas, so that the bee can move the pistil and 
get at the pollen more easily by setting it free. There are lines on 
the carpels which serve as honey-guides. 
There are two kinds of flowers, one large and much visited by 
insects; the other smaller ones are not so much visited, as they have 
no scent or honey, and the corolla is absent or rudimentary. They are 
called cleistogamic flowers, and secure pollination with little effort. 
The anthers have little pollen. They are at first like ordinary buds, 
the carpels occupying the middle. 
[he spring flowers are coloured, the others have no corolla in the 
