LILIACEAE 



471 



2820. A. fastigiata Dryand. (Wilson, op. cit.) In this species autogamy 

 is excluded. Artificial self-pollination is ineffective. 



912. Aspidistra Ker-Gawl. 



2821. A. elatior Blume. Delpino regards this species as micromyophilous {cf. 

 Vol. I, p. 15), but J. Wilson (Bibl. No. 3662) is of opinion that snails effect pollination ; 

 these slip through small openings in the flowers and usually bring about autogamy. 



913. Colchicum L. 



Protogynous flowers with concealed nectar, secreted by the thickened outer 

 sides of the proximal ends of the free part of the filaments, and stored in furrows, 

 3-5 mm. long and covered with woolly hairs, at the bases of the perianth leaves. 



2822. C. autum- 

 nale L. (Sprengel, 

 'Entd. Geh.,' pp. 206-8 ; 

 Herm. Miiller, ' Fertili- 

 sation,' p. 556 ; Kirch- 

 ner, ' Flora v. Stuttgart,' 

 p. 67; Schulz, 'Beitrage,' 

 I, pp. 99-100; Kemer, 

 'Nat. Hist. PI.,' Eng. 

 Ed. I, II, p. 374; 

 MacLeod, Bot. Jaarb. 

 Dodonaea, Ghent, v, 



1893, pp. 307-8; 

 Knuth, * Blutenbiol. 

 Herbstbeob.,' 'Bliiten- 

 biol. Notizen'; Warn- 

 storf, Verb. bot. Ver., 

 Berlin, xxxviii, 1896.) 

 In the large, bright- 

 violet flowers of this 

 species the stigmas are 

 usually mature before 



the stamens, but remain receptive until the latter are ripe. If insects visit the 

 flowers early, therefore, cross-pollination is ensured; if later, self-pollination is 

 also possible, although rendered more difficult by the fact that the anthers turn 

 their pollen-covered surfaces outwards and the stigmas often project later beyond the 

 stamens, which were at first of the same length. Automatic self-pollination is possible 

 when the flower closes or when the stigmas and anthers are at the same level. 



In these flowers, which open and close periodically, being open from about 

 9 a. m. until 6 p. m., homogamy or even protandry have been observed as well 

 as protogyny. Kerner also observed heterostyly, and distinguished between flowers 

 with long, medium, and short styles. The perianth leaves elongate later to such 

 an extent that in long-styled flowers the three longer perianth lobes increase by 



Fig. 406. Colchicum autumnale, L. (from nature). a, Flower (natural 

 size) after removal of a sepal and a petal with their attached stamens : the 

 three stigmas project beyond the anthers. *, A petal (natural size), with its 

 stamen, and the thickened, nectar-secreting part () of the filament : behind is 

 seen the nectar-storing furrow of the petal. 



