PERFECT FLOWERS 



47 



Great Laurel — Rhododendron maximum 



Originally from the Alleghanies, 

 though now found extensively un- 

 der cultivation, the Great Laurel 

 presents the same scheme of pro- 

 curing cross-fertilisation as the 

 flowers already mentioned, with 

 this peculiarity: the anthers re- 

 semble two little meal-bags with 

 open mouths pointing upward, rhododendrons 

 ready to dust the under side of the visitor with 

 pollen the moment he sets them vibrating on 

 their long spring-like filaments. The microscope 

 discloses that the pollen-grains are bound together 



in long, furry chains. 



Mountain Laurel — Kalmia 

 latifolia 



This has similar an- 

 thers, with, however, a 

 much more complex 

 mechanism, to be later 

 described. Its long pro- 

 truding pistil receives 

 the first touch of an ap- 

 proaching moth before 

 the stamens are dis- 

 MODNTAiN LAUREL arranged. 



