II CARYOPHYLLACE^ 109 



Towards three in tlie morning the sceDt ceases, the 

 anthers begin to shrivel up or drop off, the filaments 

 turn themselves outwards, so as to be out of the 

 way, while the petals, on the contrary, begin to roll 

 themselves up, so that by daylight they close the 

 aperture of the Hower, and present only their brownish- 

 green under sides to view, which, moreover, are thrown 

 into numerous wrinkles. Thus, by the morning's light, 

 the flower has all the appearance of being faded. It 

 has no smell, and the honey is covered over by the 

 petals. So it remains all day. Towards evening, how- 

 ever, everything is changed. The petals unfold them- 

 selves ; by eight o'clock the flower is as fragrant as 

 before, the second set of stamens have rapidly grown, 

 their anthers are open, and the pollen again exposed. 

 By morning the flower is again " asleep," the anthers 

 are shrivelled, the scent has ceased, and the petals rolled 

 up as before. The third evening, again the same process 

 occurs, but this time it is the pistil which grows : the long 

 spiral stigmas on the third evening take the position 

 which on the previous two had been occupied by the 

 anthers, and can hardly fail to be dusted by moths with 

 pollen brought from another flower.^ Schulz questions 

 this description, Avhich, however, tallies with my own 

 observations ; but it is possible that the flowers behave 

 somewhat differently in different localities. They are 

 sometimes visited by insects during the day. The 

 name " Catchfly " has been given it because the upper 

 part of the stem is viscid and small flies are often 

 glued to it. The object, no doubt, is to prevent ants 

 and other creeping insects from robbing the flowers of 

 their honey. After flowering the ovary is at first 

 pendent, but by the time the seeds are ripe has become 

 upright, so that they do not drop out of themselves, 

 but are pushed out and scattered when there is any 

 wind. After fertilisation the plant ceases to be viscid. 



S. noctiflora is also a night flower, opening about six 

 in the evening, and is probably fertilised by moths. 



^ Avebury (Lubbock), Fruits, Floivers, and Leaves., p. 40. 



