II.] GLANDULAR HAIRS. 39 



The beautiful rosy flowers of this species' are rich 

 in nectar : the stamens are short ; the pistil, on the 

 contrary, projects considerably above the corolla. 

 The nectar is not protected by any special arrange- 

 ment of the flower itself, and is accessible even to 

 very small insects. The stamens ripen before the 

 pistil, and any flying insect, however small, coming 

 from above, would assist in cross-fertilisation. Creep- 

 ing insects, on the contrary, which in most cases 

 would enter from below, would rob the honey with- 

 out benefiting the plant. P. amphibium, as its name 



FIG. 32. Linncra. 



denotes, grows sometimes in water, sometimes on 

 land. So long, of course, as it grows in water, it is 

 thoroughly protected, and the stem is smooth ; while, 

 on the other hand, those specimens which live on 

 land throw out certain hairs which terminate in sticky 

 glands, and thus prevent small insects from creeping 

 up to the flowers. In this case, therefore, the plant is 

 not sticky, except just when this condition is useful. 

 All these viscous plants, as far as I know, have 

 upright or horizontal flowers. 



