256 Flowers and their Pedigrees. 



ingenious, interesting^, and almost intentional in its 

 design. The Ethiopian lily, one can readily under- 

 stand, attracts many insects by its large brilliant white 

 hood, as well as by the rich golden-yellow colour of 

 the stamens which cover the summit of its spike. But 

 in the arum the top of the spike is bare, and has 

 become expanded into a club-shaped organ, which is 

 deeply tinged with purple, and stands out vividly 

 against the bright green of the spathe at its back, so as 

 to form an excellent advertisement for the giddy eyes 

 of little passing winged insects. It is upon these 

 insects that the arum depends entirely for fertilisation, 

 and the way in which it manages to obtain their 

 services is as curious as anything in the whole range 

 of vegetable existence. 



If, when the arum-flowers are just beginning to 

 blossom, I were to cut down one of the hoods half- 

 way through the centre, sidev/ays, I should find a 

 great many tiny winged flies all crawling about at 

 the very bottom of the deep tube. They have come 

 from some other neighbouring arum-flower, where 

 they have been well dusted with the golden pollen ; 

 and they crawl down the neck of the hood, past the 

 lobster pot hairs which close its narrowest portion, 

 into the broader open space beneath. Here they 

 find the pistil-bearing blossoms just ripe for impreg- 



