;8 WILD FLOWER FAMILIES 



four or five inches long, and linear-lanceolate in 

 shape; in the Carolinian form they are two or 

 three inches long, and ovate-lanceolate in shape. 

 The blossoms are very similar. 



The Spring Beauty is an excellent example 

 of what the botanists call protandry, that is, the 



SPRING BEAUTY 



shedding of the pollen by the stamens before the 

 the stigma opens. The first day that the petals 

 unfold the stamens stand erect around the pistil, 

 and are already shedding their pollen. But the 

 three-lobed stigma of the pistil is not exposed; 

 the stigmatic surfaces are tightly pressed against 

 each other. On this first day the bees visit the 



