ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 287 



grains of pollen. The bright blooms of the double-flowered peach 

 could be seen hundreds of yards away, but to discover the flowers 

 on the pittosporum you need stand underneath the tree. There 

 is no flower in this State more frequently visited by b&es than the 

 simple white or creamy yellow eucalyptus bloom. It is the bee- 

 keeper's most important source of profit. 



Again, we are told that markings on certain flowers are finger- 

 posts. "The lines or spots so often found on the petals of highly- 

 developed flowers," siays the author of "The Story of the Plants," 

 ""act as honey-guides to lead the bee or other fertilising insect 

 ■direct to the nectary" ; he then goes on to describe the "so-called 

 nasturtium." The upper pair (of petals) are broad and deep-lined 

 with dark veins which all converge about the mouth of the spur, 

 and so show the inquiring insect exactly where to go in search 

 of honey. The lower three on the other hand, have no lines or 

 markings, but possess a curious sort of fence running right across 

 the face, intended to prevent other flying insects from alighting 

 and rifling the flower without fertilising it." The nasturtium is 

 bi-sexual (one of those whose stamens develop before the pistil), 

 which is said to be the reason the nectary is situated so far down 

 the spur. In most bi-sexual flowers, in those where the stamens 

 <are first to develop, and also in those where the pistil first comes 

 to maturity, the nectary is not situated low down, and so far as 

 we know bees find no difficulty in fertilising them. Such flowers, 

 i.e., those whose nectaries are easily accessible, however, produce 

 plenty of seed. How bees must be baffled when they visit unicolour 

 flowers ? 



What a waste of time it must be for insects to discover the 

 nectary where Nature has been so remiss as not to put up guide 

 posts. In the wild nasturtium of India the two upper petals have 

 these "guide posts," but the three lower ones have not. The 

 cultivated descendants of these have altered wonderfully in their 

 .shades of colours and markings. Now before me, I have some 

 blooms that are like the originals, only the three lower petals 

 have markings. The markings on the two upper ones are brick- 

 xjolour, and in form like the broad-arrow, the apex pointing to- 

 wards the nectaiy. The marking on the lower petals are somewhat 

 similar, only the apex points outwards. In blooms of such character 

 are bees much perplexed to discover the nectai-y ? i have also 

 before me a nasturtium unicolour, a pale sulphur-yellow, yet when 

 in the garden I saw the bees were never at a loss which way to 

 turn to find the nectary, and this flower was visited as regularly 



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