plant f>artner6btp0 121 



be seen in twilight. The odor attracts the insect in 

 its direction, and on a nearer a^Dproach the flower is 

 seen. 



Most flowers have peculiarly bright streaks, spots, 

 or other markings, in the direction of the honey, 

 and the honey is placed at the bottom of the stamens ; 

 thus the insect is attracted just where he should go. 

 The tiger lily has its startling black spots, the arum 

 its lines of red and green, the morning-glory its vivid 

 stripes, the jonquil its ruffled bi-colored crown, the 

 beauty-of-the-night its rich purple centre. 



When the pollen is ripe for carrying, all the parts 

 of the flower are at their best ; the perfume is the 

 strongest, the coloring is the brightest, the nectar most 

 abundant. 



Now does some one say, " If the bee is wrestling 

 with the bloom, why will he not rub the pollen of the 

 anthers into the pistil of the same flow^er ? Thus the 

 very end to be avoided Avould be directly secured." 

 Why not, indeed ? 0, wonderful plan of the flower ! 

 Here is the beautiful explanation. The pollen can- 

 not adhere to an unripe stigma — only the mature 

 stigma provides the sticky secretion that will retain 

 the pollen grain. In nearly all flowers the stamens 

 and pistils do not ripen simultaneously, but the one 

 a little before the other. In some flowers the pistils 

 ripen first, but in most the anthers ripen and have 



