Magenta to Pink 



its pollen from its anthers to its stigma. In spite of his discov- 

 eries that the hairs inside the geranium's corolla protect its nectar 

 from rain for the insect's benefit, just as eyebrows keep perspira- 

 tion from falling into the eye ; that most flowers which secrete 

 nectar have what he termed "honey guides " spots of bright 

 color, heavy veining, or some such pathfinder on the petals in 

 spite of the most patient and scientific research that shed great 

 light on natural selection a half-century before Darwin advanced 

 the theory, he left it for the author of " The Origin of Species" 

 to show that cross-fertilization the transfer of pollen from one 

 blossom to another, not from anthers to stigma of the same 

 flower is the great end to which so much marvellous mechan- 

 ism is chiefly adapted. Cross-fertilized blossoms defeat self- 

 fertilized flowers in the struggle for existence. 



No wonder Sprengel's theory was disproved by his scorn- 

 ful contemporaries in the very case of his wild geranium, which 

 sheds its pollen before it has developed a stigma to receive any ; 

 therefore no insect that had not brought pollen from an earlier 

 bloom could possibly fertilize this flower. How amazing that he 

 did not see this ! Our common wild crane's-bill, which also has 

 lost the power to fertilize itself, not only ripens first the outer, then 

 the inner, row of anthers, but actually drops them off after thei' 

 pollen has been removed, to overcome the barest chance of self- 

 fertilization as the stigmas become receptive. This is the geranium's 

 and many other flowers' method to compel cross-fertilization by 

 insects. In cold, stormy, cloudy weather a geranium blossom 

 may remain in the male stage several days before becoming 

 female ; while on a warm, sunny day, when plenty of insects 

 are flying, the change sometimes takes place in a few hours. 

 Among others, the common sulphur or puddle butterfly, that sits 

 in swarms on muddy roads and makes the clover fields gay 

 with its bright little wings, pilfers nectar from the geranium 

 without bringing its long tongue in contact with the pollen. 

 Neither do the smaller bees and flies which alight on the pet- 

 als necessarily come in contact with the anthers and stigmas. 

 Doubtless the larger bees are the flowers' true benefactors. 



The so-called geraniums in cultivation are pelargoniums, 

 strictly speaking. 



In barren soil, from Canada to the Gulf, and far westward, 

 the Carolina Crane's-Bill (G. Carolinianum) , an erect, much- 

 branched little plant resembling the spotted geranium in general 

 features, bears more compact clusters of pale rose or whitish 

 flowers, barely half an inch across. As their inner row of anthers 

 comes very close to the stigmas, spontaneous self-fertilization 

 may sometimes occur ; although in fine weather small bees, es- 

 pecially, visit them constantly. The beak of the seed vessel 

 measures nearly an inch long. 



106 



