CARYOPHYLLEAE 173 



faintly odorous, and the petals more or less spreading. There is slight protogyny, 

 but self-pollination is inevitable later on, and is effective, for fruits are regularly set, 

 even in 76° N. lat. In Greenland, at 73° N. lat., purely female flowers have also 

 been observed (Loew, op. cit.). 



433. M. divaricatum Nym. (=M. macrocarpum Willk.). — Focke considers 

 that the greatly dilated calyx of this South European species is a means of protection 

 against the ovipositor of insects. The opposite is true — according to the same 

 investigator — for 



434. M. album x Silene noctiflora, the calyx of which is narrower than that 

 of M. album. This hybrid is therefore not so well protected against such attacks. 



125. Agrostemma L. 



Protandrous to homogamous butterfly flowers. Petals red, undivided, without 

 ligules ; the lower parts of the claws are winged and held together by the calyx, 

 which is contracted above. Secretion of nectar as usual. 



435. A. Githago Z. (= Lychnis Githago L., Githago segetum Des/.). (Sprengel, 

 'Entd. Geh.,' pp. 254-5; Herm. Miiller, 'Fertilisation,' p. 131, ' Weit. Beob.,' II, 

 p. 234; TuUberg, Bot. Not., Lund, v, 1868, p. 10; Kemer, 'Nat. Hist. PL,' Eng. Ed., 

 I, II; Kirchner, 'Flora v. Stuttgart,' pp. 252-3; Schulz, 'Beitrage,' I, p. 11; 

 MacLeod, Bot. Jaarb. Dodonaea, Ghent, vi, 1894, p. 157; Knuth, 'Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. 

 nordfr. Ins.,' pp. 42, 151.) — The purple petals of this species close neither at night 

 nor during bad weather. At the bases of their limbs there are whitish spots with 

 dark purple lines and blotches. The secretion of nectar is as usual. The stamens 

 and stigmas mature serially after the fashion of most other species of the order. 

 Besides plants bearing the ordinary hermaphrodite blossoms there are also varieties 

 with smaller flowers, distinguished by better developed carpels and less pronounced 

 nectar-guides. Tullberg observed transitions between protandry and homogamy in 

 Sweden. Schulz also describes the hermaphrodite flowers as varying from protandry 

 to homogamy, autogamy taking place in the latter case. Kerner states that continued 

 growth of the stamens always brings about automatic self-pollination towards the end 

 of anthesis. According to Schulz, autogamy and xenogamy may both take place in 

 the same field, though they are often restricted to different localities. Besides 

 hermaphrodite flowers female ones also occur, these being gynodioeciously, or rarely 

 gynomonoeciously distributed. 



Visitors. — In the island of Amrum I saw only a butterfly — Pieris brassicae Z — 

 skg. normally ; also a fly, which was a useless guest. Herm. Miiller observed the 

 following in Central Germany. — 



A. Diptera. Syrphidae: i. Rhingia rostrata Z., vainly seeking nectar. 

 B. Lepidoptera. (a) Rhopalocera: 2. Hesperia lineola 0., skg.; 3. H. sylvanus 

 Esp., skg.; 4. H. thaumas Hfn., skg.; 5. Pieris brassicae Z., very freq., skg. 

 {h) Sphingidae : Ino statices Z., skg. 



2. Tribe Alsineae DC. 



Literature. — Herm. MUUer, 'Fertilisation,' pp. 131-8 ; Knuth, 'Grundriss d. 

 31utenbiol.' ; Schulz, 'Beitrage,' I, pp. 25-6, II, pp. 52-5. 



