POLYGALACE^ 



95 



stamens are attached in two bundles (Fig. 56, a), and 

 wliicli contains a number of white hairs pointing- down- 

 wards, while near the upper end are 

 two groups of finger -like lobes. The 

 pistil (Fig. 56, st) occupies the axis of 

 the flower, and ends in a spoon-shaped 

 hollow. The short stamens lie just 

 over this hollow, and shed their pollen 

 into it, after which they withdraw a 

 little to the side. Close behind the 

 hollow is a projection which terminates 

 in a very viscid disk. When the pro- 

 boscis of an insect is forced down the 

 tube in search of honey, it comes in 

 contact with this viscid disk, and being fiq. sg. _ sectiou of 

 thus rendered adhesive, when it is ^'oiygaia vulgaris. 



. , -, . n ,1 11 o,antners; cOjpetals; 



withdrawn carries some oi the pollen 5,sepais;s<, stigma. 



with it, and 



thus conveys it to the next 

 flower, where it is stripped ofi" 

 the retreating proboscis by the 

 edge of the viscid disk, and is 

 thus accumulated in the stig- 

 matic hollow. P. vulgaris is 

 sometimes blue and sometimes 

 pink or white or striped ; why 

 is this ? It is, moreover, a vari- 



¥ia. 57. —Fobjgalamdgans. Flower able SpecicS in Othcr respectS, 



opened out. Enlarged, a, Bcutna , e ^ • j^ • j.i ■ i 



CO, corolla, the median petal ends aS, tor mstaUCC, IXX the SlZe and 



in a hood (m) bearing a pair of proportions of the different 



fingered processes. f ■■- rrn p j i 



leaves, ihe use oi the curious 

 finger-formed processes has not, I think, been satis- 

 factorily explained. 



VIOLACE^ 



Nearly world-wide. The northern species are gener- 

 ally herbaceous ; those of tropical regions often shrubs 



