CROWFOOT FAMILY 43. 
or more. Those which “haunt the glen” vary 
much in size, according to the strength of their 
foot-hold, but none are more picturesque than 
these. As you see the flaming blossoms standing 
out from the side of the precipitous ledge you 
wonder that the elements do not tear the plants 
from their frail supports. 
The Columbine is found in blossom from April 
until June, the height of its season in New Eng- 
land and the northern states occurring in May. 
The long spurs secrete in their enlarged tips a 
store of nectar which is eagerly sought by the 
queen bumble-bees abroad during the period of 
blooming. Normally, these visitors alight on the 
open end of the flower, inserting their tongues 
through the tubes to the spur. As they make the 
circuit of the five nectar-spurs the under sides 
of their bodies and their legs rub against the 
stamens and pistils. In young blossoms the pis- 
tils only are extended against the body of the 
visitor, the stamens being as yet curved up within 
the flower. These soon curve out, however, so 
that the abundant pollen is ready to be carried 
from blossom to blossom. The result of this 
arrangement is that cross-pollination is very likely 
to occur through the agency of the bees that bring 
to newly opened flowers the pollen from those 
longer open. 
But many bumble-bees bite through the 
