270 THE STRUCTURE OF FLOWERS. 



Hence, to find its stigmas enlarging under anemopliily is all 

 in keeping with the above facts. 



The Origin of Anemophily. — With regard to the origin 

 of anemophilous flowers, there is every reason to believe 

 them to be due to the neglect or absence of insects : that as 

 these have brought about brilliant colours or other kinds of 

 conspicuousness, so their absence has allowed flowers to 

 degenerate and become inconspicuous, the result being 

 either self-fertilisation or anemophily. As two examples 

 of districts which illustrate this fact, are the Galapagos 

 Islands, visited by Mr. Darwin, and Greenland, the flora of 

 which is described by M. Warming. 



The former observer, on landing, thought that there were 

 few or no flowers, but, on stricter search, discovered many 

 to be inconspicuous. A specimen before me of Solanum 

 nigrum, which he brought from those islands, has flowers 

 much smaller than our own native plant, and illustrates the 

 wide dispersion of self-fertilising plants. M. Warming 

 found Greenland, like the Galapagos Islands, to be poor in 

 insects, and "the flow^ers display a corresponding increased 

 tendency to autogamy. One hundred and thirty-eight species 

 of anemophilous plants are also named by him, exclusive of 

 Willows. The flowers appear to decrease in size with the 

 increase of latitude ; and the brilliancy of colour certainly 

 does not become greater." * 



This last observation does not agree with M. Plahault's 

 observations ; f and possibly M. Warming is here intimating 

 a wrong cause of degeneracy, which I should incline to regard 

 as the absence of insect stimulation, with the cousequent 

 tendency to inconspicuousness, anemophily, and autogamy. 



* Overs. K. Banske Yidensk. SelsTc., 1886, p. xxv. (quoted from Journ. 

 Roy. Micr. Soc, 1887, p. 433). See also above, pp. 177 and 259. 

 t Ann. des Sci. Nat, 6 ser., t. vii. (1877), 'et t. ix. (1879). 



