CARYOPHYLLEAE 



149 



I. Anthophora pilipes F.; 2. Andrena fulva Schr.; 3. Apis mellifica L.; 

 4. Bombus agrorum F. ; 5. B. hortorum L.; 6. B. lapidarius L. ; 7. B. mastrucatus 

 Gers/.; 8. B. pomorum Fz.; 9. B. pratorum L. ; 10. B. rajellus Z. ; 11. B. sylvarum 

 L.; 12. B. soroensis F.; 13. B. terrester Z. ; 14. Osmia bicolor Schr.; 15. O. 

 cornuta La/r. 



Of these, Bombus mastrucatus and B. terrester steal the nectar by perforation. 

 Apis, Bombus pratorum, and B. soroensis steal nectar through the holes made by 

 these humble-bees. 



Ricca found that 95 % of the flowers were broken, and Schulz noticed the same 

 thing in many instances at Bozen. 



370. P. serpyllacea Weihe ( = P. depressa Wender.).— 



Visitors. — MacLeod observed Bombus agrorum and B. hortorum in Flanders 

 (Bot. Jaarb. Dodonaea, Ghent, vi, 1894, p. 246). 



371. P. alpestris Reichb. 

 (Herm. Miiller, ' Alpenblumen,' 

 p. 168-9.) — The flower me- 

 chanism of this species agrees 

 pretty well with that of P. 

 comosa, but owing to the fusion 

 of the three lower petals, there 

 is also a certain resemblance 

 to that of P. Chamaebuxus. 



Visitors. — Herm. Miiller 

 saw only 4 sp. of butterflies in 

 the Alps. 



372. P. myrtifolia L. — 



Delpino (' Ult. oss.,' pp. 1 85-7) 



states that the flower mechanism agrees with those of certain Papilionaceae (Lathyrus, 



Phaseolus). 



Visitors. — The same bee — Xylocopa violacea Z. — which pollinates Lathyrus 

 and Phaseolus does the same for this species, and in the same manner. 



Fig. 43. Polygala alpeslris, Reichb. (after Herm. Mailer). A. 

 Flower seen from below (x 7). B. The same, seen from the front, 

 more highly magnified, tf, entrance to the flower. 



XV. ORDER CARYOPHYLLEAE. 



1. Tribe Sileneae DC. 



Literature. — Knuth, Grundriss d. Bliitenbiologie, pp. 29-30. 



The flowers are frequently large and brightly coloured, and are rendered more 

 conspicuous by the fact that the inflorescence is often much branched. In the 

 individual flower, the petals — which are usually long-clawed — are so held together 

 by the gamosepalous calyx as to form a more or less elongated tube, the length 

 of which is often increased by the presence of a corona. The nectar secreted in 

 the base of the flower, or the juices there obtainable by boring, are therefore usually 

 only accessible to long-tongued insects. It follows that many Sileneae are Lepi- 

 dopterid flowers, the red-flowered species being butterfly flowers, and the white- 

 flowered ones moth flowers or hawk-moth flowers. 



