FLORAL MECHANISMS 



117 



brittle. When an insect arrives to drink he is sure 

 to disturb them, and they break away and jump off 

 bodily, as if fleeing from some pest. They jump, 

 they skip, they turn somersaults in the air, and some 

 of them fall into the nectary or upon its adhesive 

 borders, whence they are carried to pistils of other 

 flowers by adhering to insects 

 such as flies, beetles and Hy- 

 menoptera, who come to drink. 

 It is no uncommon trick 

 among flowers for the entire 

 stamens to come away. This 

 occurs most interestingly in the 

 jewel- weed. 



Jewel-weed; Touch-me-not 

 -Impatiens biflora 



July-Sept. 



In moist and shady places 

 this plant grows in great abun- 



JEWEL-WEED 



dance, bearing profusely its showy orange-yellow 

 blossoms, shaped like Oriental slippers without 

 heels but with pointed toes curved upward into 

 hooks. For some time I supposed that I had 

 discovered staminate and pistillate flowers on 

 this plant; but closer observation showed that the 

 stamens grew directly upon the pistil, and pro- 



