SPRINKLING APPARATUS. 



275 



two different methods. According to one method the anther-lobes are pressed firmly 

 against the style round which they stand in a small circle; according to the other 

 the lobes of adjacent anthers face one another and are closed as tightly together as 

 were the anthers of the sugar -tongs -like stamens already described. The first 

 arrangement occurs in Soldanella (see figs. 278 1-^ s), the latter in many species 

 of Erica and of Boragineae (see figs. 278*'6.6.7.8.9,io)_ i^ ^oth cases the cone is 

 composed of four or five lanceolate anthers, and the pollen is concealed in eight or 

 ten long narrow loculi which part and let their contents fall if the cone is displaced 

 to the slightest extent. If an insect touches the cone anywhere, as it must do to 

 insert its proboscis, it dislocates the closely- fitting parts and causes a little shower 



Fig. 278.— Sprinkling apparatus. 



I Longitudinal section through a flower of Soldmmlla alpina. 2 stamen from the same seen from that side which is in contact 

 with the style. * Diagram of transverse section through the style and the five anthers adherent to it; the lightly shaded 

 part is the style, the darker shaded portions are the connectives, the dotted portions are the pollen. * Longitudinal 

 section through a flower of Symphytum ojjicinale. 5 Two stamens and three scales of same heset with prickles. 6 Single 

 stamen of Symphytum. ? Mower of Borago oj^cinalis. 8 Cone of anthers from the same with one of the stamens bent 

 down in the direction of the arrow, and a little pollen escaping in consequence. ^ Stamen with tooth-like handle on its 

 filament. 10 Diagram of transverse section of the style and anthers of Borago ; the shaded portions are the style and the 

 connectives of the five anthers, the dotted portion is the pollen. 7 natural size ; the rest of the figures x 2 to 5. 



of pollen to descend upon itself. Usually very small quantities of pollen fall at a 

 time. As soon as the proboscis is withdrawn the anthers are replaced in virtue 

 of their elastic filaments, and the same process may be repeated again and again. 

 The insects break into the flowers at various spots ; in Heaths {Erica) the pro- 

 boscis is usually introduced through the apex of the cone of anthers, in Borage 

 {Borago officinalis; see fig. 278'') at its base. The latter plant is visited by hive- 

 and humble-bees which, alighting on the nodding flowers from below, fasten on 

 with their fore -legs, so that their head and proboscis is brought on to a level 

 with the base of the cone, whilst the hind part of the body is arched under its 

 apex. The insect holds on in this position by a peculiar tooth-like appendage of 

 the filament (see fig. 278'), and with this as a handle pulls the anther of that 

 stamen away from the rest, causing a break in the cone out of which the pollen 

 falls on to the abdomen of the insect as it sucks the honey. In the flowers of 

 several Boraginece — Comfrey {Syw/phytwrn) and Gerinthe, for example — there are 

 peculiar scales, furnished with sharp prickles, alternating with the anthers (see 

 figs. 278*'^'^), and placed in such a position that insects are afraid to insert their 



