Magenta to Pink 



reads meadow-gift ; but we find the flower less frequently in grassy 

 places than those who have waded into its favorite haunts could 

 wish. 



Owing to the crested lip being oddly situated on the upper 

 part of the flower, which appears to be growing upside down 

 in consequence, one might suppose a visiting insect would not 

 choose to alight on it. The pretty club-shaped, vari-colored hairs, 

 which he may mistake for stamens, and which keep his feet from 

 slipping, irresistibly invite him there, however, when, presto ! down 

 drops the fringed lip with startling suddenness. Of course, the 

 bee strikes his back against the column when he falls. Now, there 

 are two slightly upturned little wings on either side of the column, 

 which keep his body from slipping off at either side and necessi- 

 tate its exit from the end where the stigma smears it with viscid 

 matter. The pressure of the insect on this part starts the pollen 

 masses from their pocket just below ; and as the bee slides off the 

 end of the column, the exposed, cobwebby threads to which the 

 pollen grains are attached cling to his sticky body. The sticky 

 substance instantly hardening, the pollen masses, which are drawn 

 out from their pocket as he escapes, are cemented to his abdomen 

 in the precise spot where they must strike against the stigma of the 

 next calopogon he tumbles in ; hence cross-fertilization results. 

 What recompense does the bee get for such rough handling.? 

 None at all, so far as is known. The flower, which secretes ho 

 nectar, is doubtless one of those gay deceivers that Sprengel 

 named " Schciiisaftbliimeii," only it le.ads its visitors to look for 

 pollen instead of nectar, on the supposition that the club-shaped 

 hairs on the crests are stamens. The wonder is that the intel- 

 ligent little bees (a species of .^ndreiiida'), which chiefly are its 

 victims, have not yet learned to boycott it. 



"Calopogon," says Professor Robertson, who knows more 

 about the fertilization of American wild flowers by insects than 

 most writers, "is one of a few flowers which move the insect 

 toward the stigma. . . . There is no expenditure in keeping up 

 a supply of nectar, and the flower, although requiring a smooth 

 insect of a certain size and weight, suffers nothing from the visits 

 of those it cannot utilize. Then, there is no delay caused by the 

 insect waiting to suck ; but as soon as it alights it is thrown down 

 against the stigma. This occurs so quickly that, while standing 

 net in hand, I have seen insects effect pollination and escape be- 

 fore I could catch them. So many orchids fasten their pollinia 

 upon the faces and tongues of insects that it is interesting to find 

 one which applies them regularly to the first abdominal seg- 

 ment. . . . Mr. Darwin has observed that absence of hair 

 on the tongues of Lepiiioptcra (butterfiies and moths) and on 

 the faces of Hviueiiopfcra (bees, wasps, etc.) has led to the more 

 usual adaptations, and sparseness of hair has its influence in this 

 case. Species of Aiigochlora are the only insects on which I 



87 



