PART 111. | THE MECHANISMS OF FLOWERS. 181 
-staminal column ready to spring back and grasp it as firmly 
as before. The stigma projects further beyond the anthers 
Fic. 58.— Melilotus officinalis, Willd. 
1.—F lower, from the side. 
2.—Ditto, from above, after removal of calyx and vexillum. 
3.—Ditto, from the side, after depression of the al and carina. 
a, anthers ; d, point of flexure of carina; e, depressions in the ale, whose inner surfaces are 
_ connected with the outer surfaces of the carinal petals by interdigitation of their cells ; J, digitate 
Seg of the superior basal angles of the ale ; g, column; hh, entrances to the honey; gr, style ; 
, stigma. 
than in J’. repens, so that self-fertilisation is rendered even 
more unlikely. 
Visitors : Hymenoptera—(a) Apid@: (1) Apis mellifiea, L. 9 very freq., 
| sand c.p. ; (2) Andrena dorsata, K. 9, s. and c.p.; (3) Heriades truncorum, 
| LQ, cp. ; (4) Colioxys quadridentata, L. ¢,s.; (5) Osmia sp.; (b) Sphegide : 
| (6) Ammophila sabulosa, L. g, s.; (¢) Tenthredinide: (7) Tenthredo sp., 
| vainly seeking honey. 
_ 97. MeLILotus vuLGaRis, Willd (7. alba, Thouill.).—This 
“Species is visited by the honey-bee, which I have found in 
undreds busy sucking honey and collecting pollen on the plant : 
also by Macropis latiata, Pz., and by Empis livida, L. 
_ 98. TRIFOLIUM REPENS, L.—The floral mechanism is here 
simpler than in Lotus, and is one of the simplest to be found 
among Papilionaces. Stamens and pistil are inclosed in the carina ; 
| when the latter is pressed down they protrude, but they return 
_ within it when the pressure is removed, and the pollen is thus 
i protected from the weather and from robbery. As in all other 
Papilionaceous flowers which contain honey, the honey is secreted 
