AUGl'ST 1, 10 ir. 



jjisiiiiiic nic l(ii) Iniii; aiitl iiarniw lor hoes 

 to reach llit' hom-y at tlio hase of the cor- 

 olla. Only hutterflies, millers, hiumning- 

 birds, etc., can roach the base of such deep 

 petals. Consequently we had not thought 

 that honeybees would be attracted to the 

 tlowers at all. Imagine if you can, there- 

 fore, our surprise on seeing the bees hover- 

 ing about and working- on, not the blossoms. 

 but on the bases or stubs (calyx or ovary of 

 the blossom) left after the petals had fallen 

 ofl"! The white petals fall very early, leav- 

 ing the vino full of the gi-een bases or stubs. 



The penMenion unilateralis. Tlirt'i^ ]ifi-< an- 

 wor!;ingr. 



in the bottoms of which we (Mjiild dislincl- 

 ly see a tiny drop of nectar shining. It 

 was for this nectar that the bees were vis- 

 iting the shrub. They were tari^ying loving- 

 ly over and dipping into the bases, not mere- 

 ly running over them, as thoy sometimes do 

 when in quest merely of pollen. They 

 were getting honey too, for their distended 

 bodies showed that their visits were not in 

 vain. 



The interesting tiling to me was this: 



jiaiiiuius are well liked by the bees. 



Why does Nature allow an apparent mis- 

 caiTiage of her plans'? for the petals in 

 this jasmine form a star-shaped tube, which, 

 v.'hen it falls, carries away Avith it also the 

 stamens that adhere closely to the inside of 

 the petals, and so carries the pollinating 

 elements of the blossom. No good could, 

 therefore, possibly result to the blossom 

 from any visit of the bees after the petals 

 were gone. The bees, we might almost say, 

 were mere looters, taking what was left, 

 hut paying no toll of fertilization to the 

 l»lant for the nectar obtained. The blossoms 

 would have been fertilized equally well with- 

 i/ut the visitations of the bees. Why is it 

 <ol Is it some slip in nature, some abortive 

 condition of a principle othenvise efifectiAe 

 and eflicient, world-wide in application? 



Our wonder is increased when we reflect 

 that this shrub is not the only instance of 

 such abortion — if such it be — of a wide 

 principle. The cotton and the partridge 

 pea (sensitive pea. Cassia chacmicnsta) 

 of northern Florida and southern Georgia 

 are both illustrations of a similar oddity. 

 In these two plants it is not the blossoms 

 I hat secrete the nectar, but small petiolar 

 jilands or leaves at the base of the blossoms. 

 Ill a recent letter from Mr. John II. Lov- 

 ell. of Waldoboro, Me.. I was interested to 

 note that he also finds some of the Avork- 

 iugs of nature's rules rather odd. He re- 

 marks of this trait in cotton and the par- 



