Transactions. 141 



general fleshiness of the plant has led to a much more open kind 

 of flower, and the nectaries are large and orange-i'ed in colour 

 lying between the stamens, and not encircling them at the base 

 as in almost all tlie other Caryophylleae. Here, however, the 

 stamens dehisce early, and curve so far outwards that self- 

 fertilisation is improbable. 



In Spergularia rubra one finds a distinct advance, as the 

 petals are often pink, and honey is secreted by a ring of tissue> 

 due to the confluent basis of tlie stamens ; the honey is only pro- 

 tected by the flowers not opening till about 2 p.m., when that of 

 all flowers which have been open since the morning must be nearly 

 exhausted. This is visited by bees. 



Silene injiata is a great step in advance, as it has large flowers 

 which form a regular cup with a narrow entrance so that the 

 honey is well protected from thieves and evaporation. Self- 

 fertilisation is prevented by the very late ripening of the styles, 

 and the biting propensities of some of the larger bees is guarded 

 against by the calyx of united sepals which is much swollen, so 

 that even the comparatively long trunk of a Bombus would have 

 difliculty in reaching the honey from the outside as they frequently 

 try to do. 



For Lychnis one finds the calyx hairy and viscid instead of 

 being inflated for a similar reason, and these are the highest type 

 of flower found in the order. L. vespertina is Aiuch like Silene 

 in other respects ; but L. duirna and Jloscuculli, with their red 

 flowers, are entirely adapted to bees, and have also been described 

 in a former papei*. 



If we wish to go downwards one has to travel back to Stellaria 

 media to find anything like Sagina procumbens, which is usually 

 sans petals, sans honey, sans everything in the way of special 

 adaptation to insects. Probably it depends almost wholly on 

 self-fertilisation, and its habit of closing in dull cloudy weather 

 renders this easy instead of protecting the honey as in Spergularia. 

 It is also in a strangely variable condition, sometimes with petals, 

 sometimes without, and with a very changeable number of 

 stamens. It is only visited so far as I know by ants. 



A list of the insect visitors, probably very incomplete, may be 

 found in the 2d Part of the Dumfries Flora, and though this is a 

 very fragmentary account even of our British Caryophylls, it may 

 perhaps induce some of our members to take up this interesting 

 study. 



