390 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



FIG. 479. NECTARIES. 



The first figure is a petal of Buttercup showing pocket- 

 like nectary at its base ; the second a petal of Barberry 

 with its two nectaries. 



^^^^^^^^_| writer remarks, is no longer a simple 



passive victim in the busy bee's sweet 

 pillage, but rather a conscious being, 

 with hopes, aspirations, and com- 

 panionships. The insect is its counter- 

 part. Its fragrance is but the whisper 

 of welcome, its colour is as the wooing 

 blush and rosy lip, its portals are 



/|\yf decked for his coming, and its sweet 



**%' hospitalities humoured to his tarrying ; 



and as it finally speeds its parting 

 /" affinity rests content that its life's 



consummation has been fulfilled." 



In considering the means by which 

 insects are attracted to flowers, six 

 important features may be specially 



noted. These are Conspicuousness, Odour, Irregularity, Honey-guides, 

 Nectar, and Pollen. Let us take them in their order. 



Size, colour, and the massing of flowers are the three chief causes of 

 Conspicuousness. Of these the first and last need not be dwelt upon. It 

 is obvious that the larger a flower is, the greater are its chances of attracting 

 attention ; equally obvious is it that small flowers which cluster together 

 (say as umbels or flower-heads) have a decided advantage over flowers 

 of the same size which are solitary. Then there is colour. The bright 

 colours of flowers, and in some cases the bright tints of the adjoining 

 parts, such as the flower-stalks, bracts, etc., have evident reference to 



the visits of insects ; indeed, it was 

 the opinion of Sprengel, a German 

 botanist of the eighteenth century. 

 that " flowers differ in colour in accord- 

 ance with the kinds of insects which 

 frequent them." That bees readily dis- 

 tinguish colour has been proved by 

 Lord Avebury, and the experiments 

 of Darwin point to the same conclu- 

 sion. " It is a curious question," Dar- 

 win writes, " how bees recognize the 

 flowers of the same species. That the 

 coloured corolla is the chief guide can- 

 not be doubted. On a fine day, when 

 hive-bees were incessantly visiting the 

 little blue flowers of Lobelia erinus, I 

 cut off all the petals of some, and only 

 the lower striped petals of others, and 



FIG. 480. LARKSPUR. 



A flower of Delphinium grandiflorum with spurred 

 calyx and corolla. 



