IBlossom Hosts and Insect Guests 



threshold for the insects while sipping the nectar 

 deep within the tube. 



Every one is famihar with this old-fashioned fa- 

 vorite of the country garden, its lavender flowers 

 arranged in whorls in a long cluster at the tip of 

 the stem. One of these flowers, a young one from 

 the top of the cluster, is shown at A, Fig. i, in 

 section, the long, thread-like pistil starting from 

 the ovary, and curving upward beneath the arch of 

 the flower, with its forked stigma barely protrud- 

 ing (B). There are two of the queer stamens, one 

 on each side of the opening of the blossom, and 

 situated as shown, their anthers concealed in the 

 hood above, and only their lower extremity appears 

 below, the minute growth near it being one of the 

 rudiments of two former stamens which have become 

 aborted. 



If we take a flower from the lower portion of the 

 cluster (D), we find that the thread-like pistil has 

 been elongated nearly a third of an inch, its forked 

 stigma now hanging directly at the threshold of the 

 flower. The object of this will be clearly demon- 

 strated if we closely observe a bee upon the blos- 

 soms. Let us suppose he has reached the top 

 of the cluster among the younger blossoms. He 

 creeps up the outstretched platform of the flower, 



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