550 



ANGIOSPERMAEDICOTYLEDONES 



1269. V. officinalis L. The small whitish or flesh-red, very fragrant flowers 

 of this species are rendered conspicuous by aggregation into large inflorescences. 

 Sprengel (' Entd. Geh.,' pp. 63-5) described them as protandrous, and this has been 

 confirmed by Ricca (Atti Soc. ital. se. nat, Milano, xiv, 1871) and Herm. Miiller 

 ('Fertilisation,' pp. 306-7, ' Alpenblumen,' pp. 469-70). 



Five purple lines, which become paler in old flowers, serve as nectar-guides. 

 The corolla- tube is 4-5 mm. long, and about ^ mm. above its base there is 

 a pouch containing the nectary, while above this the inner surface of the tube is- 

 beset with hairs. 



In the first stage of anthesis the pollen-covered anthers project from 

 flower; in the second stage the 3 diverging stigmas also protrude. 



Insects visiting the younger flowers will therefore cover their feet and the 

 under-surface of their bodies with pollen, and transfer it to the stigmas of older 

 flowers. As the stamens are curved outwards in the second stage, automatic 

 self-pollination is prevented. 



According to Warnstorf (Verh. bot. Ver., Berlin, xxxviii, 1896), the stamens do 



not project from the flower simulta- 

 A " neously, but in succession, subse- 



quently curving outwards, so that 

 the extrorse anthers easily pollinate 

 neighbouring flowers in the female 

 stage. The pollen-grains are white 

 in colour, densely covered with spinose 

 tubercles, ellipsoidal, usually truncated 

 at one pole, up to 75 fi long and 

 44 fx broad. . 



The same authority states that 

 by degeneration of the anthers purely 

 female stocks are constituted, which 

 are recognizable from a distance by 

 their smaller and more crowded 

 flowers (Schr. natw. Ver., Wernigerode, xi, 1896). The species is therefore 

 gynodioecious. 



Visitors. Herm. Miiller (H. M.) and Buddeberg (Budd.) give the following 

 list for Central Germany (Herm. MUller, ' Fertilisation,' p. 307, ' Weit. Beob.,' III. 

 p. 98).- 



A. Coleoptera. Elateridae: 1. Adrastus pallens F. Er., inactive (H. M.). 

 B. Diptera. (a) Conopidae : 2. Conops quadrifasciatus Deg. y skg. (H. M.); 3. C. 

 scutellatus Mg. t do. (H. M.); 4. Sicus ferrugineus Z., do. (H. M.). (J>) Empidae: 

 5. Empis livida Z., in very large numbers, skg. (H. M.); 6. E. rustica Z., do. 

 (H. M.). (c) Muscidae: 7. Anthomyia sp., po-dvg. (Budd.) ; 8. Calliphora erythro- 

 cephala Mg., freq., skg. (H. M.) ; 9. C. vomitoria Z., do. (H. M.); 10. Echinomyia 

 fera Z., skg. (H. M.); 11. Lucilia cornicina E., freq., skg. (H. M.); 12. Musca 

 domestica Z., do. (H. M.); 13. Onesia floralis R.-D., do., (H. M.); 14. Sarcophaga 

 camaria Z., do. (H. M.). (d) Syrphidae: 15. Chrysotoxum festivum Z., skg. and 

 po-dvg. (H. M.); 16. Eristalis arbustorum Z., do. (H. M., Budd.); 17. E. hordeola 

 Deg., do. (H. M.); 18. E. nemorum Z., do. (H. M.); 19. E. sepulcralis Z., do. 



Fig. 184. Valeriana officinalis, /.. (from nature, 

 enlarged). A. Flower in the first (male) stage : the 

 pollen-covered anthers (a) are above the corolla, the 

 immature stigmas (s) are still curved to the side. B. 

 Flower in the second (female) stage : the anthers (a) have 

 shed their pollen, and are curved to the side, while the 

 mature stigmas (s) project from the corolla. , nectary. 



