ON THE FECUNDATION OF LUPINUS POLYPHYLLUS. 57 
growing in my garden. The bee alighted on the blossom, and by the 
weight of his body drew down the alæ and keel, and inserted his pro- 
boscis to the base of the stamens for the purpose of extracting the 
nectar. In doing so, I noticed that the stamens, covered with pollen, 
and the pistil, were slightly extruded from the apex of the keel, and 
struck against the under portion of the body of the bee, which probably 
earried some of the pollen away with him, and alighting on other 
blossoms, thus probably fertilized them. 
This curious sight naturally led me to examine more particularly the 
structure of the blossoms. In an early stage of the flowering, I ob- 
served that the standard was flattened or laid close to the other parts 
of the blossom, but that in full expansion later, the lateral portions of 
the standard became reflexed. On opening some of the blossoms be- 
fore the standard was reflexed, I noticed that there were ten anthers of 
two different sets and sizes, alternating with each other. One of these 
sets consisted of five very large sagittate anthers; whilst the other set 
consisted of five very small rotundo-oblong anthers supported on sta- 
mens scarcely reaching to the base of the sagittate anthers, but both 
sets not half the length of the pistil. Strange to say, in this early stage 
of the blossom, the pollen of the sagittate anthers was all matured and 
falling from the open anther-cells, whilst the anthers of the other set 
were all closed and the pollen in an immature state. On examining 
other blossoms whose standard was reflexed, I found that the large 
sagittate anthers were all withered, and their pollen gone, whilst the 
shorter and smaller stamens had become greatly elongated so as to be- 
come equal in length to the pistil, their anther cells expanded, and 
their pollen mature. Tn this state the elongated stamens and the pistil 
with the mature pollen of the, at first, small anthers, were by the weight 
of the bee extruded, and, I presume, fertilization effected. I com- 
pared under the microscope the size and appearance of the pollen from 
the two sets of anthers, but could distinguish no appreciable difference. 
I now opened several blossoms with unreflexed standards, and with 
a camel’s-hair pencil took some pollen from the sagittate anthers, and 
applied it carefully to the stigmas of other blossoms with unreflexed 
standards, cutting away first the unexpanded anthers of the smaller set 
of stamens. These blossoms, so treated, I covered with bits of fine 
muslin to prevent all insect agency. After some time I examined 
them, and found that fecundation had not taken place, and the legume 
had not swollen. 
