252 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



likened to the two showy blue or yellow petals, were industri- 

 ous, and published their works on Botany. The third, 



Kaspar, lacking in ambition, 

 amounted to nothing, like 

 the third insignificant white 

 petal. Fortunately, poor 

 brother Kaspar was dead be- 

 fore the birth of the joke. 



Commelina. There is an 

 interesting division of labour 

 between the stamens. The 

 upper three stamens furnish 

 little or no pollen, but the 

 anthers contain honey. The 

 lower middle stamen bends 

 up opposite the centre of the 

 flower. Bees collect pollen 

 from this stamen for their 

 bread, are dusted with pollen 

 from the side stamens, which 

 they carry to other flowers, 

 and then climb up and pierce 

 the upper anthers for honey. 

 In the morning the bright 

 little flowers open ; in the 

 afternoon, or as soon as the 

 bees have visited them (fe- 

 male bees are said to be 

 their chief benefactors), the 

 FIG. 229. Xyris anceps, Lam. flowers quickly roll up and 



wither into a moist shapeless mass. C. benghalensis, L., has 

 been mentioned as having cleistogamous flowers (p. 168). 



Cyanotis (Tradescantia) also blossoms for a day and then 

 perishes or " dissolves in tears," whence it also is known as 

 " Job's Tears ". The hairy filaments serve as a foothold for 

 bees. The anthers are similar. 



The species are chiefly eastern, though Commelina and 

 Cyanotis are found throughout the Cape Province. 



