BEES AS FERTILISERS. 287 



with other devices, of which we have an example 

 in the excellent honey-plant, Epilobium angustifolium 

 (C» Fl §- 57)) or rosebay willow herb, belonging to the 

 order Onagracese. It is by no means so generally seen 

 in England as in Scotland, although it abounds in 

 many parts of Somersetshire. It is common throughout 

 the cooler parts of the Northern hemisphere, and is 

 used in Kamtschatka as forming part of a fermented 

 drink. It grows to the height of 5ft. or 6ft., and 

 is loaded with racemes, carrying great numbers of 

 blossoms, which mature in succession during several 

 weeks. In soils which agree with it, this plant is 

 even more easily established than removed, as it 

 creeps along rapidly by lateral shoots. The wild 

 plants have lilac or pink blossoms, with a lavender- 

 coloured corolla, and bluish pollen ; but there are three 

 or four varieties better suited to garden cultivation, of 

 which, album, roseum and rosmarinifolium are to be 

 preferred. The last is really a beautiful plant, and 

 w T ould grace any shrubbery. Some roots were sent me, 

 through the kindness of Mr. Ingram, well-known for the 

 interest he takes in bee botany ; they flourished, and, 

 during fair weather, the flowers were always crowded 

 with bees. In the Botanical Gardens, Kew, this plant 

 is grown in the herbaceous grounds, with a multitude 

 of others, and hive bees are generally found about it 

 in numbers. It receives its name from the flowers 

 being placed upon, or at the end of, the pod, which 

 might almost be taken for the stalk ; but its interest 

 now centres upon its method of fertilisation. When 

 the flowers open, the style curves backward, carrying 

 the stigma (s) to the position shown at A, Fig. 57. 



