baker] DISTRIBUTIOS OF BLOOD ROOT G3 



The flowers usually open on the first day during daylight at no 

 particular hour. Toward night the petals begin to close and 

 gradually resume the appearance they bore just after the sepals 

 fell. At about seven the next morning, the petals begin to re- 

 open, and by noon, they have spread further and further apart until 

 they are reflexed thru an angle of about 112°. About three of the 

 afternoon on cloudy days, or four o'clock on clear days, the petals 

 begin to close. This opening and closing of the flower is a regular 

 daily event, as long as the petals persist. 



On ven- dull, or rainy days the flower may not open completely, 

 or it may scarcely show any expansion. If a sponge saturated 

 with chloroform be placed near the flower, and a bell jar be inverted 

 over both about an hour before the time for opening or closing, the 

 movement of the petals is prevented. The whole plant becomes 

 weak and limp and remains prostrate several days. 



It seems to be a general opinion that the petals persist only a day 

 or two, but in all the flowers which I obsen^ed, I fotmd the petals 

 persisting from five to ten days. Previous to the dropping of the 

 petals fertilization ordinarily occurs. The flowers are so open and 

 flat that many are probably wind pollinated, but I have also 

 observed insect pollination. The insects which I saw pollinating 

 the flowers were wasps and a peculiar kind of fly. I noted an 

 interesting thing in connection with these flies; as I reached for 

 them to examine them instead of showing signs of flight, they 

 merely tumbled off the flower to the litter on the forest floor. One 

 or two could be picked up without making any effort to escape. 

 At first I thought the drowsiness, which these flies displayed, was 

 due to the fact that it was rather early spring, and while this may 

 be true, I have since reached the conclusion, which, however, is not 

 based on experimental e\Hdence, that there is in the plant, an 

 opiimi-like substance such as occurs in other plants of the famih- 

 Papaveraceae. I do not know just what relationship exists 

 between the time when the flower is pollinated and the time when 

 the petals fall, but I feel sure that there is a definite relationship. 

 The period during which one "may find Blood Root plants in 

 bloom is quite long, the time of blooming depending in each 

 indi\'idual case upon the exposure, soil and to some extent the age 

 of the plant; so that from March 29, the date when I first found 

 the plant in bloom until May 4, which was the latest date that I 

 saw it in bloom, plants were constantly blooming. It is interesting 



