The Wild Mignonette 



poorest and lowest of the bees finds a flower that 

 will make a bid for its special favour, and will, 

 moreover, seek its co-operation in an exclusive way. 

 There are fascinating possibilities of research in the 

 large field of bee-fertilised flowers, as to how they 

 are often specially adapted, not merely to bees in 

 general, but to some definite variety of bee in par- 

 ticular, as, for instance, in the case of the Mignonette 

 and Prosopis, the snapdragon and the humble bee, 

 and the bryony and that variety of bee known as 

 Andrena florea. 



After fertilisation the seed-case swells, and if it 

 be cut across transversely it can be seen that it is 

 built up of three carpellary leaves, which are, as it 

 were, standing upright and joined together by their 

 margins. Along the three lines of union are two 

 rows of black, shining seeds — that is, six rows in all. 

 As the capsule matures it opens still more widely at 

 its mouth, and the swaying of the flower stems by 

 the wind jerks out the little smooth seeds. 



The family of the Mignonette is but a very small 



151 



