PLANTAGINACEAE 321 



LXXXIII. ORDER PLANTAGINACEAE JUSS. 



Literature. — Knuth, ' Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. nordfr. Ins.,' p. 125, ' Grundriss 

 d. Bliitenbiol.,' p. 87. 



Protogynous anemophilous flowers with long, flexible filaments and feathery 

 stigmas. Hermaphrodite or monoecious. 



738. Littorella Berg. 



Monoecious. In the male flowers the four stamens are inserted into the corolla- 

 tube. Two female flowers are situated at the base of each male. 



2391. L. juncea Berg. (= L. lacustris L.). (Knuth, ' Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. 

 nordfr. Ins.,' p. 125; Braun, Bot. and Phys., Mem. Ray Society, London, 1853.) — 

 The versatile anthers in this species are borne on slender filaments, and often project 

 2 cm. from the flower, swaying about in every breeze, so that the powdery pollen is 

 easily carried away. The feathery stigmas of the female flowers situated at the base 

 of the male ones are long and projecting, and mature before the anthers of the male 

 flowers on the same plant dehisce. Submerged plants do not flower, but propagate 

 by long runners (sometimes up to a dm. in length). A. Braun says that this always 

 takes place in wet years, for then the plants all remain submerged. 



Willis and Burkill ('Fls. and Insects in Gt. Britain,' Part I, p. 265) add to my 

 description that the flowers are situated in groups of three, one stalked male in the 

 middle and two sessile female ones at its base. The filaments are long and flexible, 

 the anthers very versatile, and the stigmas long and penicillate. The female flowers 

 mature earlier than the males of the same plant, so that self-pollination is prevented. 



739. Plantago L. 



Literature. — Knuth, 'Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. nordfr. Ins.,' pp. 125-6; Darwin, 

 J. Linn. Soc, Bot., London, vi, 1862 ; Kuhn, Bot. Ztg., Leipzig, xxv, 1867, p. 67. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, protogynous, with persistent stigmas. Sometimes 

 gynomonoecism or gynodioecism, rarely andromonoecism or androdioecism. Darwin 

 says that some species are dimorphous, while others, according to Kuhn, bear 

 cleistogamous flowers (e. g. P. virginica Z.). 



All the species which I examined bore only one whorl of mature flowers on the 

 spicate inflorescences. The slender, flexible filaments project some millimetres from 

 the flower, only the backs of the versatile anthers being attached to their tips. The 

 filaments are generally brownish in P. major L., whitish in P. lanceolata L., and 

 P. arenaria Waldsl. el Kit., yellow in P. maritima L. and P. Coronopus L., and violet 

 in P. media L. These colours make the inflorescences tolerably conspicuous, 

 especially in P. media L. Pollen-devouring or pollen-collecting insects may therefore 

 (though rarely) be seen on these flowers, so that entomophily may occasionally be 

 effected. Flies are the most frequent visitors ; the delicate scent of P. media L. so 

 adds to its attractiveness that humble- and honey-bees also visit it. 



Pollination is, however, much more frequently effected by wind. The somewhat 

 feathery stigmas project from the otherwise entirely closed bud; the stamens then 

 mature, while the stigma still remains receptive, so that automatic self-pollination is 



