78 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



spires, with just enough symmetry to make a deco- 

 rative feature in any situation. These lovely bells, 

 many times repeated, in varying sizes and positions, 

 offer a study of unity in variety worthy of the 

 cleverest pen or brush. Moreover, they display 

 within their fragile bells an arrangement of stamens 

 and pistils in progressive stages of development, 

 which we will find amazingly in- 

 teresting. Since we wish to follow 

 it through its phases from the be- 

 ginning, let us not follow the bee 

 but, on the contrary, begin at the 

 top of the spire and investigate 

 some buds, slicing them open from 

 summit to base with a sharp knife. 

 Within, we shall find a group of 

 undeveloped stamens, closely clasp- 

 ing an immature pistil which is about as long as 

 they are. 



The next bud below shows the stamens have all 

 curled back into the base of the corolla, leaving a 

 tube of pollen clinging to the style of the pistil. 

 The flower below has opened to receive its guests, 

 and we see bumblebees, Halictus bees, and bee-like 

 flies arriving, and invariably clasping the pistil as 

 they plunge into the flower. Thus they soon take 

 away all the clinging mass of pollen on their bodies. 



MECHANISM OF 

 BELLFLOWER 



