PRIMULACE^ 



271 



it opens, the pollen whicli drops, and which from its 

 stickiness is but little, falls (Fig. 170) clear of the pistil. 

 Gradually the stalk bends downwards (Fig. 171), moving 

 about 10 per cent a day, and finally (Fig. 172) hangs 

 almost perpendicularly, so 

 that the pollen, which has 

 now become dry and pul- 

 verulent, drops on to the 

 stigma. The leaves are glab- 

 rous and oval, but in the 

 species or variety known as 

 O. hedercefolium they are 

 ivy -leaf in form. No ex- 

 planation of the difference, so 

 far as I know, has been sug- 

 gested. The fiower is said to 

 last ten days. When the 

 flower is fertilised the stem 

 contracts into a spiral, and 

 carries the fruit down to, and 

 even into, the ground. The 

 seeds gradually ripen during 

 the winter, while the lower 

 part of the stalk rots away, the 

 upper portion remaining as a 

 hook attached to the capsule 

 and facilitating its dispersal. 



Lysimachia 



Figs. 170-172. — Oyclamen eihvopoeum^ 

 The parts of the flower are Fig. 170.— Position of flower as it 



generally _ in fives, but some- Fio°^'7i'.-Position of flower ™heu 

 times in sixes. The flowers, as ^ f^^iy °p^"- 



J , -, . Fig. 172.^Final position of flower. 



m the preceding genus, are „, Aower-stalk ; b, cone formed 



honeyleSS. We have four ^^ the anthers ; c, fail Une of 



.•'_,- the pollen. 



species. iwo have erect 



stems : L. vulgaris, with short terminal panicles ; and 

 L. thyrsijlora, with flowers in axillary racemes. The 

 other two are trailing plants : one, L. Nummularia, 

 with large flowers and broad calyx segments ; the 



