NECTARY. 73 



the sustenance of the anthers and stigmas, and for the purpose of 

 secreting honey. 



Saint Pierre* thinks the corolla is intended to collect the rays of 

 the sun, and to reflect them upon the stamens and pistils which are 

 placed in the centre or focus. 



After all our inquiries into the uses of the corolla, we are obliged 

 to acknowledge that it appears less important, in the economy of 

 vegetation, than many less showy organs. It seems chiefly design- 

 ed to beautify and enliven creation by the variety and elegance of 

 its forms, the brilliancy of its colouring, and the sweetness of its 

 perfume. 

 MMMM Neda-y. 



In many flowers there is an organ called the nectary, which secretes 

 apecuhar fluid, the honey of the plant; this fluid constitutes the prin- 

 cipal food of bees and various other species of insects. 



Linnteus considered the nectary as a separate organ from the 

 corolla ; and every part of the flower which was neither stamen, 

 pistil, calyx, nor corolla, he called a nectary; 

 but he undoubtedly applied the term too exten- 

 sively and vaguely. The nectary is not to be 

 confined to any particular part of the flower. 

 Sometimes it is a mere cavity, as in the hly. 

 The crown imperial. Fig. 79, exhibits in the 

 claw of each of its petals a nectary of this kind'; 

 each one being filled with a sweet liquid, the 

 secretion of the flower. If these drops are re- 

 moved, others immediately take their place. 

 The six nectariferous glands at the base of the 

 corolla are represented in the figure ; the petals 

 are supposed to be cut in order to show the 

 base of the flower. 

 In the Ranunculus, (Butter-cup,) tlie nectary is a production of the 

 corolla in the form of a scale; in the violet, a process of the same, 

 in the form of-a ho7vi or spur. In the 'Columbine, (Aquilegia,) the nec- 

 tary is a separate organ from the petals, in the form of a horn. In 

 the monk's-hood, one of the petals being concave, conceals the nec- 

 taries ; they are therefore said to be hooded. 



In monopeialous corollas, the tube is supposed to answer the pur- 

 pose of a nectary in secreting honey. In the honeysuckle, we find 

 at the bottom of the tube a nectariferous liquid ; yet there is no ap- 

 pearance of any gland or organ, by which it could have been se- 

 creted, unless we suppose the tube to have performed this oflEice. 



With respect to the purpose for which honey is secreted by the 

 nectary and other parts of the flower, there seems, among authors, 

 to be a difference of opinion. Darwin supposes this to be the food 

 with which the stamens and pistils are nourished, or the unripe seeds 

 perfected. Smith asserts, that the only use of honey, with respect to 

 the plant, is to tempt insects, which, in procurijig it, scatter the dust 

 of the anthers, and fertilize the flower, and even carry the pollen 

 from the barren to the fertile blossoms ; this is particularly the case 



* This ingenious author remarks, that man seems the only animal sensible to the 

 sweet impressions made by the colour and odour of plants upon the senses ; but we 

 think he has asserted too much. Do not the brute creation seem to enjoy, by the 

 sense of smelling, the freshness of the verdant fields? But man is very apt to say, 

 " See all things for my use." 



St. Pierre's theory — Nectary— Its use— Not always a separate organ— Nectary of the 

 crown imperial— Different forms of nectaries— Opinions of different writers respecting 

 use. 



7 



