HONEYSUCKLE 35 



buds are opening the flower is in the second stage. Thus flowers 

 in both stages are to be found together on the same inflorescence. 

 The flower-buds stand more or less erect, and, since the stigma 

 projects further than the anthers, it is not self-pollinated when the 

 anthers open in the bud. As the flowers open they move down- 

 wards into the horizontal position. 



The flowers exhale a strong and attractive scent, especially 

 in the evening, and nectar is secreted by a nectary, which can be 

 seen as a yellow ridge on the floor of the tubular part of the corolla 

 if this is carefully slit open along the back. They are adapted to 

 be visited by hawk-moths, which suck the nectar from the corolla- 

 tube when poised on the wing in front of the flowers. The Hum- 

 ming-bird Hawk-moth may sometimes be seen feeding in the day- 

 time, but most of the hawk-moths feed at dusk. If the moth 

 goes first, as is probable, to the more prominent flowers in 

 the first stage, it is unlikely to touch the stigma but will get 

 dusted with pollen. If it then proceeds to a flower in the second 

 stage, the stigma of this will come in contact with the region of 

 the insect's body on which the pollen was deposited. Cross-pollin- 

 ation will thus result. Self-pollination is possible, but the adapta- 

 tions are all such as to favour cross-pollination. The flowers are 

 visited by other moths and by humble-bees, which also effect 

 pollination, though less neatly than the hawk-moths. 



After pollination the corolla falls off, and the inferior ovary 

 develops into the fruit. This becomes a red succulent berry 

 enclosing the hard seeds. The berry is crowned with the dark 

 calyx, which persists. The appearance of the conspicuous 

 group of fruits on the summit of the inflorescence is represented 

 in Fig. 5 of the Plate. The fruits are eaten by birds, and the hard 

 indigestible seeds thus dispersed. 



THE DODDER (Cuscuta Epithymum, Muir) AND THE 

 MISTLETOE (Viscum album, L.) 



The two plants which will be considered together here are not 

 at all closely related, but show a similar departure from the usual 

 mode of life and nutrition of ordinary flowering plants. As was 

 seen in the introductory chapter (Vol. III. p. 94) , an ordinary flower- 



