j\rETH01)S OF CROSSING FLOWERS. 



3' 



^ 



P'eRTILISING AlTLIAXCES. 



expanded and hairy or sticky, so as to liold or retain the pollen when placed upon it. 

 In some flowers, such as lobelia, nnninlus, tobacco, petunia, and composite flowers, 

 the lobes of the stigma are widely separated when receptive and closed before that time. 

 In mimnlus (musk and monkey flowers) the lobes of the stigma are like lips, and 

 actually close and retain the pollen wdien it is applied to them. 



In the case of large flowers like amaryllis, lilies, and the larger narcissi, no stick is 

 necessary. Simply pull off a long- 

 stalked anther or two, and dab it 

 on to the sticky or glutinous end 

 of the pistil or stigmatic surface. 

 In removing the pollen-bearing 



anthers from plants to be crossed, , , , 



(I, rseedle mounted in liaiulle ; h, bamboo tootln>ick lor conveying 



a small pair of tweezers will be pollen to stigma. 



found handy, or a pair of sharp - 



pointed scissors nia}^ be used to deftly snip them away. 



In crossing the flowers that have long tubular corollas, you can cither cut them off 

 carefully, or slit up the tube with a pin or needle pushed into a bit of stick as a handle 

 (see a. Fig. 21). 



Fertilisation of Orchids. 



la crossing orchids the tactics are a little different than in dealing with the majority 

 of garden flowers, as the pollen is in waxy masses (see Fig. 23), and the stigmatic surface 

 is in front of the fleshy column, and below the anther or pollen-case, which terminates 

 the column itself (see page 33). In the case of the orchids no removal of pollen (or 

 emasculation as it is called) is necessary, since the pollen cannot usually bo blown, or 

 shaken, or fall on to the stigmatic surface. In nature, orchids and asclepiads [hojjtt^ 

 sfa])ch'a, etc.) are nearly always cross-fertilised by insects that carry the pollen masses 

 about from flower to flower. If ever you get big humble-bees in the orchid-house Avhen 

 cattleyas, la3lias, dcndrobiums, and other kinds are in bloom, you will see them 

 blundering about and creeping into the roUcd-up lips of these flowers (Fig. 22), and 

 they often carry ofi" the sticky pollen masses on their hairy heads, and succeed in spoiling 

 many flowers by fertilising them. 



This brings us to a point in floral fertilisation worthy of notice. Whenever orchid 

 flowers, and some other flowers, arc fertilised they soon droop and wither away. The 

 very reason why these flowers endure fresh and fair from four or five days to twelve 



