POLLEN, OR FLOWER-DUST 91 



passes over those flowers whose nectar is sour and 

 unripe, just as we should unripe fruit, and so it 

 becomes almost impossible for the bee to enter 

 and return without leaving numerous fertilising 

 pollen-grains. 



But it may occur to the reader that the bee 

 would rub or shake the pollen from the stamens 

 on to the stigma of the same flower. This, how- 

 ever, is prevented by the simple arrangement of 

 the anthers coming to maturity and scattering 

 their pollen before the stigma becomes receptive, 

 after which the stigma develops and ripens and 

 so receives pollen from other flowers. The 

 stigma in the illustration can just be seen peeping 

 above the upper pair of anthers, and the latter 

 are shown just when the anthers are ready to 

 burst. It may seem somewhat astonishing that 

 such vast quantities of pollen should be produced ; 

 yet, considering the great amounts that are washed 

 away by heavy rains and damaged from other 

 external causes, not to mention the quantities 

 that are appropriated by bees to make " bee- 

 bread " for their young, this abundance only 

 reveals Nature's adaptability to circumstances. 



To examine pollen by means of the micro- 

 scope with suitable illumination invariably causes 

 astonishment and delight, for these tiny granules 

 then appear in their natural colours and extra- 



