THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



to bees, probably because it is too resinous; but it is not in- 

 frequently eaten by beetles. 



In a prolonged calm the portion of the pollen which falls 

 from the anthers is not wholly lost, but is mostly caught and 

 temporarily lodged on the backs of the cone-scales standing 

 underneath, from which it is later swept away by the wind. 

 The scales of the red pine are reflexed so that their upper sur- 

 faces form little trays, while those of the common juniper are 

 bent backward into little pockets. These structures are ap- 

 parently not adaptations but incidental results, for in the fir 

 the apex of each scale is bent downward, the base is narrow 

 and a concavity is almost absent. In wet weather, moreover, 

 the little pockets are apt to gather moisture, although this is 

 partly prevented by their expansion and consequent closure. 



Wind-pollination is the oldest and most primitive method 

 of pollen dispersion, and for millions of years the only form 

 of pollination in existence. There were wind-pollinated trees 

 as far back as the Devonian, and in the Mesozoic Age a 

 remarkably equable climate prevailed over a large extent on 

 the land surface of the globe and gymnospermous trees were 

 the dominant forms of plant life. There were conifers, cycads, 

 maidenhair-trees, and cycadophytes in the greatest variety, 

 and they were all pollinated by the wind. Insect-pollination 

 is a comparatively recent event. The efficiency of anemophily 

 is proven not only by its age, but also by the fact that if the 

 number of individuals is considered rather than the number of 

 species, then far more plants are pollinated to-day by wind 

 than by insects. 



46 



