464 



ANGIOSPERMAE—MONOCOTYLEDONES 



Borgstette (Borg.), Tecklenburg (Herm. Miiller, ' Weit. Beob.,' I, p. 274), and 

 Knuth (Kn.) Fohr. — A. Diptera. Muscidae: i. Cynomyia mortuorum L., skg. 

 (Borg.); 2. Lucilia caesar Z. (Borg.); 3. Pyrellia cadaverina L. (Borg.). B. Hy- 

 menoptera. Apidae: 4. Apis mellifica L. 5, po-cltg. (Borg., Kn.) ; 5. Colletes 

 daviesanus K. § (Kn.) ; 6. Halictus albipes F. 2, po-cllg. (Borg.) ; 7. H. cylindricus 

 F. 5, (Kn.) : 8. H. malachurus K. 5, po-cltg. (Borg.); 9. H. rubicundus Chr. 5, do. 

 (Borg.). Willis and Burkill (Central Wales, 'Fls. and Insects in Gt. Britain,' I, 

 p. 267. — A. Diptera. {a) Muscidae: i. Anthomyia radicum Z., freq., po-dvg. ; 

 2. Hydrellia griseola Fall., do.; 3. Hylemyia lasciva Zett., do. (3) Syrphidae: 

 J. Platycheirus manicatus Mg., po-dvg. B. Hemiptera. 5. One sp., rare. 

 C. Hymenoptera. {a) Formicidac : 6. Myrmica rubra Z., po-dvg. (6) Ichneu- 

 monidae: 7. One sp. 



898. Asparagus Tourn. 



Dioecious, rarely hermaphrodite flowers with concealed nectar stored at the 

 base of the perianth. 



2799. A. officinalis L. (Henn. Miiller, 'Fertlsn.,' p. 548, 'Weit. Beob.,' 

 I, pp. 282-3; Breitenbach, Bot. Ztg., Leipzig, xxxvi, 1878, pp. 163-7; Schulz, 



Fig. 40J. .IsparagiiS officinalis. L. (after Herm. MuUer). (i) Male flower, from below. 



(2) Do., after removal of half the perianth : from the side. {^) Female flower, from below. (4) Do., 



after remo\'al of half the perianth ; from the side, a, vestigial stamens; b, vestigial ovary. 



' Beitrage,' II, p. 199; Warnstorf, Verb. bot. Ver., Berlin, xxxviii, 1896; Kirchner, 

 ' Flora V. Stuttgart,' p. 662 ; Knuth, ' Bloemenbiol. Bijdragen.') — The whitish-green, 

 pendulous flower-bells of this species possess a characteristic odour. Most of the 

 stocks are unisexual, but every flower possesses vestiges of the other sex. The male 

 flowers, which are first visited by insects, are larger, and therefore more conspicuous, 

 than the female ones ; their perianth is 6 mm. long, that of the latter only 3 mm. 



Breitenbach first pointed out that besides purely male and purely female stocks, 

 hermaphrodite ones also occur, which, however, do not bear hermaphrodite 

 flowers alone, but also other transition forms showing various degrees of reduction 

 of the pistil. Breitenbach, however, observed no intermediate forms between 

 female and hermaphrodite flowers, and thus no stocks which besides hermaphrodite 

 flowers bore others possessing vestigial stamens devoid of pollen. Schulz states 



