FLORAL MECHANISMS 



103 



flowers of the Solaniim family. Their stigmas 

 protrude and are fertilised; then the pollen ripens 

 in the little balloon and remains there till some in- 

 sect alights upon it, hugs it roughly for a support, 

 and thereby fires the charge of pollen, some of which 

 is sure to adhere to his abdomen. The sketch 

 shows clearly the arrangement and action of the 

 parts. 



Downy False Foxglove — Geradia flava 

 July-August 



When prying into the secrets of this flower, I 

 was delighted to discover a new floral mechanism. 

 I found that each of the four stamens bore anthers 

 with little 

 spikes, much 

 like the barbs 

 on fish-hooks, 

 and reasoned 

 that these lit- 

 tle appendages 

 were meant to hook fast 

 upon the insect visit- ^ 



or, and then do some work 

 in the delivery of pollen. 

 So, with a pin-point, I pulled 

 at these hooks and beheld the 

 anthers immediately open and gerardia flava 



