— 207 — 



common in Xorth America, than in Eurasia; the Eurasian forms, 

 if I am not mistaken, have the yellow colour in 90Vo. 



Where do all these differences come from? Perhaps, because the 

 conditions of fertilisation and its agents are quite 

 different in North America and in Eurasia. To my 

 sorrow the literature [Knuth, Robinson], which I know, docs 

 not give any answer to this question. The presence of the type 

 .,stylopodium wanting'' [ = without nectarium], does it not indicate, 

 that about 507o are .,endoga mists" ^ for which the aid of 

 insects is unnecessary; or wo have to deal with the class „Po'' of 

 antobiology? 



Does not the type .,stylopodium (and disc) wanting'- appear as 

 a archaic indifferent prototype for the evolution of different 

 forms of stylopodium, as well as to the discus epigynus? 



If we except the cases of the secondary absence of nectaria, 

 which of course, is quite possible, yet there will remain a great 

 number of forms, which we must undoubtedly take for archaic 

 ones. I foresee objections, for example, such a one: — from the 

 elementary manuals eweryb.ody remembers, ever since infancy, that 

 the flowers aggregate themeselves in larg groups, following the aim ot 

 melioration of the Schauapparat: „Zur Erhöhung der Aufälhg- 

 keit trägt es bei, wenn sich die Blumen in oft beträchtlicher Anzahl 

 zu Blütenständen vereinigen, in denen sich die optische Wir- 

 kungen der Einzelblüten summieren und auch an sich kleine 

 Blüten die Vorteile der Auffäligkeit geniessen; Blumen gesellschaf- 

 ten... die dicht gedrängt stehenden Einzelblüten zum Zwecke 

 der x\usbildung des Schau app ar ates"... - a. s. f. Conse- 

 quently, the origin of umbella is looked at, as being wholly in the 

 dependence of enthomophily. From the other side, some of the Am- 

 miaceae, as it seems, with primary characters, have no ones of 

 entomophily in their flower: the perceptibleness of each flower = 0, 

 consequently the perceptibleness of hundred flowers is also = 0; 

 flower not odoriferous; the pollen is found in a very small num- 

 ber and besides its elements have no adaptation for insects a. s. f. 



1 к i r с h n e Г, L e Av u. S с h r о e t e г Lebensgesch. d. Blueteflpfl. Mittel- 

 europas. II 1 20. 



- Kirchner Blumen und Inseckten 1911 36 170. 



