300 ANGIOSPERMAE—DICOTYLEDONES 



In Dumfriesshire a humble-bee was recorded (Scott-Elliot, ' Flora of Dumfries- 

 shire,' p. 47). 



Schulz noticed the perforation of flowers by humble-bees. 



For the variety maritima Schweig., the flower mechanism of which agrees with 

 the type-form, I observed humble-bees (Bombus agrorum F.) in Schleswig-Holstein, 

 and, in the island of Fohr, 2 Lepidoptera as useless guests, nect-skg., i. e. Epinephele 

 janira L. and Zygaena filipendulae L. 



Schletterer saw the Scoliid Scolia flavifrons F., var. haemorrhoidalis F., on the 

 variety A. Dillenii SchuU., at Pola. 



707. A. montana L. — According to Briquet (' Etudes d. biol. flor. dans les 

 Alpes Occident ') the bright rose-red flowers of this species possess a pumping 

 arrangement essentially agreeing with that of A. vulneraria. 



Visitors. — These are honey-bees, humble-bees, and also Lepidoptera, which 

 effect cross-pollination after removing the pollen. Automatic self-pollination is 

 improbable (Kirchner). 



209. Lotus Tourn. 



Like the last genus. Only the five outer filaments are club-shaped at the tip. 



708. L. comiculatus L. (Delpino, ' Sugh appar. d. fecondaz. nelle piante 

 autocarp.,' p. 25; Herm. Miiller, 'Fertilisation,' pp. 167-71, ' Weit. Beob.,' II, 

 pp. 245-6, ' Alpenblumen,' pp. 238-40; MacLeod, Bot. Jaarb. Dodonaea, Ghent, 

 vi, 1894, pp. 350-3 ; Knuth, ' Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. nordfr. Ins.,' pp. 61-2, 153, 'Weit. 

 Beob. u. Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. nordfr. Ins.,' p. 233, 'Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. Halligen.' 

 ' Bliitenbiol. Beob. a. d. Ins. Riigen '; Loew, ' Blutenbiol. Floristik,' pp. 391, 395, 399 ; 

 Schulz, 'Beitrage,' II, p. 209; Verhoeflf, ' Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. Ins. Nordemey'; 

 Warnstorf, Verh. bot. Ver., Berlin, xxxviii, 1896.) — The flower mechanism of this 

 species was first indicated by Delpino, and subsequently fully described in a masterly 

 way by Hermann Miiller. The following is an abstract of his account. — The 

 vexillum of the golden-yellow flowers, of which there are five in a head, is per- 

 pendicular, and frequently possesses red streaks as nectar-guides. The nectar, 

 secreted in the usual place, is sought out by numerous insects. Only Hymenoptera 

 are effective pollinators ; various Lepidoptera and Diptera are unbidden guests. 

 Each ala possesses a deep depression near the base of its limb, which fits into a 

 corresponding pit in the upper side of the carina. Immediately behind this jx)int, 

 the upper edges of the alae are fused together, so that when a suitable insect visits 

 the flower both alae and carina must simultaneously be depressed. Even in the 

 bud, before the petals are fully developed, the ten anthers dehisce, discharging their 

 pollen into the tip of the carina, after which they shrivel. As the flower grows, 

 only the filaments of the five outer stamens elongate, while at the sanne time their 

 ends thicken, and completely cut off the conical tip of the carina from its lower part. 

 A pollen-chamber is thus constituted; it conceals the stigma, and there is a slit 

 along its upper margin. As a result of pressure exerted by a nectar-seeking insect, 

 the five thickened ends of the filaments penetrate further into the tip of the carina, 

 and a corresponding quantity of pollen passes out piecemeal through the carinal 

 opening. As the downward pressure increases, the stigma also protrudes, so that 



