PERFECT FLOWERS 63 



upper sectional view in the sketch shows the flowers 

 in this stage and explains why the stamens are not 

 visible, as they are curved down and backward, 

 with the anthers down in the throat of the flower. 



The next day after the flower has opened the 

 pistil is seen to have wilted, and hangs like a tongue 

 upon the lower lip of the flower, while the stamens 

 have straightened up (as shown in the lower sec- 

 tional sketch), thus bringing the anthers into a 

 conspicuous position, where they can dust with 

 pollen an approaching guest. 



Mr. Gibson calls attention to the fact that the 

 figwort strives to please and to attract the wasps 

 in preference to other insects. Its colour is dull 

 and sombre, the flavour of its nectar seems agree- 

 able to wasps and not to others, and, lastly, its 

 mode of inflorescence conforms to the habits of 

 the former only, as will now be explained. 



Most flowers growing in spikes or panicles 

 bloom from below upward, to please the bees who 

 visit them in that order ; but the figwort and other 

 "wasp -flowers" bloom first at the top and thence 

 continue downward, for it is the custom of the wasps 

 to begin at the top and work downward. Here we 

 have a striking example of the adaptation of flowers 

 to the tastes and habits of their insect affinities, how 

 they offer hospitality and then exact a favour in 



