LILY FAMILY 107 



in the northern states is the Canada Lily or Wild 

 Yellow Lily, the flowers of which are represented 

 on the opposite page. The bell-shaped blossoms 

 hang down nearly vertically, with the pollen- 

 bearing anthers of the stamens in a cluster where 

 the clapper to the bell would be. Just below these 

 anthers and projecting from the middle of them 

 is the stigma on the end of the pistil. The num- 

 ber of blossoms on a plant varies from one or 

 two to ten or twelve. These lilies grow along 

 streams and in meadows where the yellowish red 

 flowers are conspicuous above the grass. Here 

 they are seen by various bees — especially the 

 mason or leaf-cutting bees — which alight upon the 

 stigma and anthers. They collect pollen from the 

 latter, and perhaps they crawl up the filaments of 

 the stamens to reach nectar at the top of the bell. 

 In thus going from blossom to blossom, the bees 

 brush the grains of pollen upon the stigmas of 

 new flowers and cross-pollination is brought 

 about. 



These lilies blossom in midsummer when the 

 bees are most abundant; they are chiefly found 

 in open sunny places, such as the bees frequent; 

 and they are of a color easily seen by daylight. 

 In each of these ways they are well adapted to 

 cater to the bees that pollenize them. 



The Canada Lily is a widely distributed species, 

 ranging from Nova Scotia and Minnesota in the 

 north to Georgia and Missouri in the south. 



