THE PLANT AND ITS HELPERS 



955 



it prepares to feast at the banquet. 

 The weight of the insect at once 

 depresses the keel of the jflower, and 

 the style, being a fixture, is forced 

 through the hole at the end of the 

 process. Now the end of the style 

 has been provided with a brush, and 

 this in its passage through the 

 conical part of the keel becomes 

 plentifully laden with pollen. Natur- 

 ally the underneath part of the bee 

 is well dusted with the yellow grains, 

 and the stigma of the next flower 

 the insect calls at will be certain to 

 receive a share of pollen from the 

 last bloom visited. By an equally 

 ingenious device the Sage blossom 

 ensures that the bee shall not fail 

 to act as an agent for the trans- 

 mission of its pollen to another 

 flower. Here, again, we find a 

 convenient little platform on which 

 the insect may alight. As is the 

 case in so many flowers, the anthers 

 and the stigma mature at different 

 times. The stamens of the Salvia 

 are arranged in the form of a very 

 curious contrivance. Two of the 

 anthers are quite rudimentary ; but 

 the others, instead of being affixed 

 to the filament of the stamens in 

 the ordinary way, are arranged on 

 a connective in the form of a swinging 

 rod. When the flower is ready for the 

 reception of the insect the movable rod 

 is in an upright position. 



Now the nectaries are situated deep 

 down in the flower, and the bee in her 

 search for the sweet stuff must needs 

 come in contact with the terminal knobs 

 of the connective. Thus the rod is forced 

 round, and the anther lobes at the other 

 extremity deposit their pollen upon the 

 back of the insect. The style of the 

 Salvia is in the hood-like portion of the 

 flower, and until its time for maturing 

 arrives it is comparatively short ; as its 

 development proceeds, however, the organ 

 extends downwards. If the next Salvia 

 blossom visited by the bee should be in 

 the female state, the stigma will be in 

 just the position to meet the back of tlie 

 insect wliich has previously been dusted 

 with pollen. In this way the cross- 

 fertilisation of the flower is secured. 



In considering the question of cross- 



PASSION FLOWERS ARE LARGELY FERTILISED 

 BY HUMMING BIRDS. 



fertilisation by insect agency special 

 attention must be directed to the Orchids. 

 If it can be contended that complication 

 of design is typical of a high order, then 

 we must place the flowers of these strange 

 plants in the forefront. The very 

 formation of the Orchid blossom is so 

 intricate that it is not at all an easy 

 matter to distinguish the different parts. 

 In the typical Orchid flower we find 

 three fairly clistinct sepals, although even 

 here the two lateral ones are sometimes 

 joined together over the interior part 

 of the flower. The petals are also three 

 in number, one of them frequently 

 being much larger than the others, and 

 forming a curious pouch which projects 

 Well forward. Even the essential organs 

 have undergone some remarkable modi- 

 fications, so that it is quite imjwssible to 

 recognise any stamens as such, the pollen 

 being produced in two bag-like con- 

 trivances which are united to the stigma. 

 As might be expected, the means by 



