supposed that the intention of 

 the blossom was the reception 

 of its own pollen, a fact which 



was again soon 

 seen to be im- 

 possible, as the stigmas 

 of many flowers are closed when 

 their own pollen is being shed. 

 It remained for Darwin seventy 

 years later to interpret the prob- 

 lem. Insects were intentionally 

 attracted to the flower; but the pollen 

 with which their bodies thus became 

 dusted was designed to be carried to 

 the stigmas of another flower, show- 

 ing cross -fertilization to be the in- 

 tention in nearly all blossoms. 



