284 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
what in advance of the stigma’s maturing, and in 
fine weather is rapidly cleared off by bees before the 
stigma-lobes separate, so that cross-fertilisation is 
secured; but in wet weather, with the consequent 
absence of visitors, the pollen in falling out of the 
anthers 1s caught by the hairy lining of the upper 
lip, and should insects continue to keep away, the 
stigma twists back and gets pollinated from this 
source. 
The Wood Sage (Teucriwm scorodonia), with its 
sage-like leaves and greenish-yellow flowers, is worth 
a little notice, though so unattractive in the hedge 
Three stages of Wood Sage flower 
and stony dyke. The upper lip looks as though it 
had been cut off squarely near its base, leaving a wide 
open tube, above which extend the stamens and pistil. 
When the flower opens (A), the anthers shed their 
pollen, but the stigma is not yet mature, though its 
lobes are already separate. At this stage the stamens 
stand forward within the flower so that they come 
into contact with the bees that chiefly perform the 
work of cross-fertilisation for the flower. 
Until the pollen is all shed the stamens maintain 
this position, whilst the pistil leans over the edge of 
the flower at the back, so that it is just as far away 
a a i — 
