RIDDLES IN FLOWERS 211 



description. The flowers are visited by small 

 bees, butterflies, and other insects. At the left is 

 an insect just alighting on a clump of the blos- 

 soms of the high-anther form indicated below it. 

 The black probe represents the insect's tongue, 

 which, as it seeks the nectar at the bottom of the 

 tube, gets dusted at its thickened top with the 

 pollen from the anthers. We next see the insect 

 flying away, the probe beneath indicating the con- 

 dition of its tongue. It next alights on clump 

 No. 2, in which the flowers happen to be of the 

 high-stigma form, as shown below. The tongue 

 now being inserted, brings the pollen against the 

 high stigma, and fertilizes the flower, while at the 

 same time its tip comes in contact with the low 

 anthers, and gets pollen from them. We next see 

 the insect flying to clump No. 3, the condition of 

 its tongue being shown below. Clump No. 3 hap- 

 pens to be of the first low-stigma form of flowers, 

 and as the tongue is inserted the pollen at its tip 

 is carried directly to the low stigma, and this flow- 

 er is fertilized from the pollen from the anthers 

 on the same level in the previous flower. And 

 thus the riddle is solved by the insect. From 

 clump to clump he flies, and through his help 

 each one of the pale blue blooms is sure to get its 

 food, each flower fertilized by the pollen of an- 

 other. 



Another beautiful provision is seen in the dif- 



