20 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



caught and held prisoners to the end of their Hves. 

 I have torn open many flowers and have found dead 

 insects in the pistil-bearing flowers only; these 

 were mostly specimens of the Fungus-Fly, or 

 Mijcetophilia, shown greatly enlarged in the draw- 

 ing. 



Now, turning to the section of a flower of the 

 Lords and Ladies, we see that the spathe swells 

 out at the base and contracts again, forming a small 

 room around the base of the spadix, thence rising 

 into a pointed hood much more open than that of 

 Jack, in spite of the moister climate of England. 

 Low upon the spadix is a group of pistils; next 

 above comes another of stamens; and above these, 

 again, a ring of stiff hairs, pointing outward and 

 downward, at the narrow part of the hood, so as 

 to form a trap to admit insects from outside but 

 to keep them prisoners within. Also, these hairs 

 prevent the insect from crawling down the spadix, 

 but guide him to enter by the outer w^all, so that 

 he cannot reach the staminate flowers first, but must 

 pass down to the bottom, crawl up over the stigmas, 

 leaving on them any pollen he has brought, and 

 then seek fresh pollen from the anthers. For a 

 time, however, he will search in vain, for the stamens 

 do not ripen till several days after the pistils, and 

 the unwilling guest must remain a prisoner, com- 



