'•] 



LOTUS.— SWEET PEA. 



25 



Fig. 25. — Lotus comiculatus. 



as to form a sort of boat, whence they are known 

 as the "keel" (Figs. 27, 28, k). The stamens, with 

 one exception, are united at 

 their bases, thus forming a tube 

 (Figs. 29, 30, t), surrounding 

 the pistil, which projects be- 

 yond them into a triangular 

 space at the end of the keel. 

 Into this space the pollen is 

 shed (Fig. 30, p°). It must 

 also be observed that each of 

 the wings has a projection (c) 

 which locks into a correspond- 

 ing depression of the keel, so 

 that if the wings are depressed 

 they carry the keel with them. 



Now when an insect alights on the flower, its weight 

 depresses the wings, and as they again carry with them 

 the keel, the latter slips over the column of stamens, 

 thus forcing some of the pollen out at the end of the 

 keel and against the breast of the insect. As soon as 

 the insect leaves the flower, this resumes its natural 

 position, and the pollen is again snugly protected. The 

 arrangement in the Sweet Pea is very similar, and if 

 the wings are seized by the fingers, and pressed down, 

 this out-pumping of the pollen may be easily effected, 

 and the mechanism will then be more clearly understood. 

 It will be observed (Fig. 30) that one stamen is sepa- 

 rated from the rest. The advantage of this is that it 

 leaves a space through which the proboscis of the bee 

 can reach the honey, which is situated inside the tube 

 formed by the united stamens. In those Leguminosse 



