RANUNCULACEAE 7 



and then visit them. The plant may consequently be said to fluctuate between 

 anemophily and entomophily, for which reason I term its blossoms ' wind flowers.' 

 Visitors effect cross- and self-pollination with equal ease. There being well-marked 

 protogyny, crossing is frequently secured, even when the pollen is carried by the 

 wind. While Herm. MuUer found the flowers to be strongly protogynous in 

 Thuringia, they are— according to Schulz — quite homogamous, or but feebly proto- 

 gynous in South Tyrol. 



According to Kerner, the stigmas are at first hidden under the sepals. Geitono- 

 gamy becomes possible when these are shed. 



Visitors. — On the island of Rflgen I observed the following. — Diptera. 

 Syrphidae : Eristalis tenax Z. po-dvg. Buddeberg (in Nassau) noticed Syrphus sp., 

 po-dvg. Hermann Miiller (in Thuringia) observed a beetle (Oedemera virescens Z.), 

 po-dvg. Schulz noticed various flies, bees, and beetles. In Dumfriesshire (Scott- 

 Elliot, 'Flora of Dumfriesshire,' p. i), one of the Muscidae was observed on the 

 flowers. 



12. T. glaucophyllum Wend. — 



Visitors. — Loew observed the following in the Berlin Botanic Garden. — 

 Coleoptera. Scarabaeidae : Cetonia aurata L., devouring the anthers. 



4. Hepatica Dillenius. 



Pollen flowers. The calyx-like involucre — situated close to the flower — serves 

 for attraction. Sometimes gynomonoecious and gynodioecious. 



13. H. triloba Gilibert ( = Anemone Hepatica Z.). (Sprengel, ' Entd. Geh.,' 

 p. 291; Herm. Miiller, ' Weit. Beob.,' I, p. 313; Schulz, 'Beitrage,' II, p. 178; 

 Calloni, Justs bot. Jahresber., Leipzig, xiii (1885), 1887, p. 751 ; Kerner, ' Nat. 

 Hist. PI.,' Eng. Ed. i, II, pp. 194, 213; Schroter, Arch. Sci. Phys., Geneve, xiv, 

 1885, p. 283; Knuth, ' Bloemenbiol. Bijdragen.') — The involucre — composed of 

 several bracts — is so near the open flower expanded in the sunshine, that it looks 

 like a calyx, and its dark-blue colour is very conspicuous among the fallen yellow 

 leaves of beeches and hazels. According to Kerner, the involucral bracts double 

 in length during the eight days of blooming, thus making the flower still more 

 conspicuous. Miiller states that the outer stamens develop simultaneously with the 

 carpels, from which they curve away, so that insects' visits at this stage may result in 

 cross-pollination. The inner stamens mature later, and self-pollination must then 

 result automatically. According to Warnstorf (Schr. natw. Ver., Wernigerode, xi, 

 1896, p. i) the flowers are protogynous. The connective of the two white anther- 

 lobes— which dehisce laterally — is white or violet. The stamens project beyond the 

 stigmas, so that autogamy is uliimately unavoidable. According to Schulz and 

 Schroter, gynomonoecious and gynodioecious plants occur sporadically. 



Visitors. — These have been observed chiefly by Hermann Miiller (H. M.) and 

 myself (Kn.). They are mostly pollen-devouring and pollen-collecting insects, 

 which creep about upon the open flowers and may lead to either cross- or self- 

 pollination. They are as follows. — A. Coleoptera. Staphylinidae : i. Staphylinus ? 

 (Sprengel at Spandau). B. Diptera. Syrphidae : 2. Eristalis tenax Z., po-dvg. 

 (Kn., H. M.). C. Hymenoptera. Apidae : 3. Apis mellifica Z. 5, (Kn., freq. in 

 Kiel Garden, po-cltg.; H. M., very freq. in Westphalia); 4. Osmia rufa Z. 5 (H. M.), 



