142 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



fertilised and enclose the pistil, and are veined, the 

 lateral nerves being branched, joining the central 

 nearly simple veins, which end in a blunt point. 

 The petals are smaller, the two lateral oblong to 

 linear, the lowest keel-shaped, with a crest at the 

 apex. The style is dilated at the tip. The capsule 

 is green, inversely heart-shaped or rounded, with a 

 notch and a narrow wing. The seeds are oblong 

 and downy. The lobes of the aril are unequal and 

 blunt. 



Milkwort may be found in bloom, as a general 

 rule, between June and September. It is a her- 

 baceous perennial, and is sometimes ten inches in 

 height, but more usually six. 



The honey lies deep in the flower. The flower 

 has a papilionaceous appearance, owing to the wings 

 or inner coloured sepals. The petals form a tube, 

 and the stamens are in two bundles attached to the 

 corolla. Opposite these there are some white hairs 

 which point downwards. There are also finger- 

 like processes above the anthers. The stigma is 

 hollow and lateral to the style, which is swollen and 

 long, reaching nearly up to the stamens, so that 

 pollen falls into the hollow of the style. The club- 

 shaped process above is clammy, and an insect 

 touches this in search of honey, making its tongue 

 sticky, and on withdrawing its proboscis pollen from 

 the hollow spoon-like style adheres to it, to be carried 

 to the stigma of the next flower, and thus cross- 

 pollination may follow. When insects do not visit 



