I70 ANGIOSPERMAE—DICOTYLEDONES 



437. C. tomentosa A.Br. (=Agrostemma Coronaria Z.). — At Bozen, accord- 

 ing to Schulz (' Beitrage,' II, p. 33), the large purple-red Lepidopterld flowers of this 

 species conceal their nectar, which is sparingly secreted, at a depth of 12-15 "^ti*- 

 Automatic self-pollination must be a rare occurrence in the protandrous hermaphro- 

 dite flowers, for though the stigmas come into contact with the anthers towards the 

 end of anthesis, no pollen remains clinging to these as a rule. Besides bi-sexual 

 flowers, smaller female ones have been observed, which are distributed either gyno- 

 dioeciously or gynomonoeciously. 



Visitors. — Schulz observed many of the larger butterflies (species of Pieris and 

 Vanessa, Papilio machaon L. and P. podalirius L.). 



124. Melandrium Roehl. 



Mostly dioecious or trioecious moth or butterfly flowers ; more rarely protan- 

 drous to protogynous hermaphrodite flowers. Petals with ligule and bifid limb. 

 Secretion of nectar as usual. 



428. M. album Garcke (=Lychnis vespertina Sibth., and in part Lychnis 

 dioicaZ.). (Sprengel, 'Entd. Geh.,'pp. 255-60; Herm. Muller, ' Fertilisation,' p. 131; 

 Delpino, 'Ult. oss.,' pp. 16 1-4; Kemer, 'Nat. Hist. PI.,' Eng. Ed. i,II; Schulz, 

 ' Beitrage,' I, p. 13, II, pp. 33-5 ; MacLeod, Bot. Jaarb. Dodonaea, Ghent, vi, 1894, 

 pp. 156-7 ; Kirchner, ' Flora v. Stuttgart,' p. 251 ; Knuth, 'Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. nordfr. 

 Ins.,' pp. 41-151.) — The species bears moth flowers, and is almost dioecious. The 

 white petals are devoid of nectar-guides, and appear limp and faded in the daytime. 

 They are odourless and almost completely closed. In the evening they open, the 

 petals spread out, and a strong odour is exhaled. In shady places they are frequently 

 open in the daytime as well, but if exposed to bright sunshine are usually closed from 

 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The nectar — as usual — is secreted by the fleshy base of the ovary, 

 and is thoroughly concealed at a depth of 20-25 mm. in female flowers and 

 15-18 mm. in male flowers. The stamens and styles vary in length according to 

 Schulz. Besides unisexual flowers, hermaphrodite ones have also been observed, which 

 are distinctly protandrous, and are associated with male flowers on the same stocks. 



Magnin states (' Recherches sur le polymorphisme floral . . . du Lychnis Vesper- 

 tina,' Lyon, 1889) that the male flowers are smaller than the female and hermaphro- 

 dite ones. The latter are produced by the action of a fungus (Ustilago antherarum 

 Fries) upon female blossoms. This fungus causes only a slight change of form of 

 the anthers in male flowers, but in female flowers the styles and upper part of the 

 ovary become vestigial, while the anthers develop because they afi"ord the only nidus 

 in which the fungus can flourish. At the same time, there is an elongation of the 

 intemode between calyx and corolla, such as is characteristic for purely male flowers. 

 This phenomenon of ' castration parasitaire androgyne' was discovered by Tulasne, 

 and described by Cornu and by Giard (' Sur la castration parasitaire du Lychnis 

 dioica Z. par I'Ustilago antherarum />.,' C.-R. Acad. Sci., Paris, cvii, 1888). 



Visitors. — In the island of Amrum I very frequently noticed a moth, Plusia 

 gamma Z. ; Herm. Miiller observed a nocturnal hawk-moth — Deilephila porcellus Z. — 

 in Westphalia ; Rossler saw the moth Dianthoecia nana Roll, at Wiesbaden : all skg. 

 In Dumfriesshire several flies and moths, probably useless guests, have been 

 recorded (Scott-Elliot, 'Flora of Dumfriesshire,' p. 23). 



