HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



6 1 



Pistillhie or Ovarian Nectaries. 



As was stated at the outset, honey is far more 

 frequently secreted in connection with the ovary than 

 any other floral organ,- — by the disk if the ovary be 

 superior, and by glands at the base of the style if the 

 o-vary be inferior. The difficully is to select a few of 

 the best examples. In the Nat. Orders, Composite, 

 Leguminoseae, Boraginese, Scrophularinece, Labiateee, 

 Umbelliferece, and others that might be named, honey 

 is secreted by the ovary or its adjacent parts. In the 

 Ericaceae the purple glands of the' disk are the 

 nectaries (Fig. 49), and the honey is sheltered by 



Fig. 53.~Neclaries of Phlox. 



Fig. 54. — Do. of Penstemon. 



secretes the honey which rises in the tube. Another 

 not infrequent form is shown in Campanula rotundi- 

 folia'_(Yig. 32). Here the upper surface of the ovary 

 secretes the honey, which collects in the hollow 

 formed by the overarching bases of the five dilated 

 filaments. The hairs at the edges of the filaments 

 are intended to close the nectary to insects who are 

 not strong enough to insert their proboscis, as the 

 shape of the corolla secures ample protection from 

 rain. Amongst garden flowers the Fuchsia (Fig 33), 

 Evening Primrose (Fig. 55), and Godetia (Fig. 56), 

 have special honey-glands at the base of the style 

 and on the surface of their inferior ovaries. In each 



Fig. 55. — Do. of Evening Primrose. 



the bell -shaped corolla, or in the open flowers of 

 Calluna by the awned anthers. In the Snapdragon 

 (Fig. 51) access to the ovarian nectary lies between 

 the bases of the two anterior stamens whose elbows 

 form guides to the humble-bees by overarching the 

 corresponding channels in the lower lip. The hairs 

 of the ovary are also studded with drops of moisture 

 and possibly secrete honey as well as the disk. The 

 chief difference between Snapdragon and Foxglove 

 (Fig. 52) is that in the latter flower there are four 

 entrances to the nectary owing to the filaments being 

 more widely separated. In the common garden 

 Phlox (Fig. 53) the lower fleshy part of the ovary 



case the honey wells up into the tube, which in the 

 Fuchsia is contracted at the point where the petals 

 are inserted. In the Evening Primrose the extremely 

 long tube prevents the honey being reached by any 

 insects except humble-bees and moths, and it is 

 further protected from creeping insects by the 

 hairiness of the style at a certain part above the 

 nectary. In Godetia the same end is attained by the 

 closing in of the lowest part of the otherwise open 

 tube with thick tufts of hair which press like 

 buttresses against the style. It is interesting to see 

 how determinedly the pistil pushes itself out of the 

 way of the dehiscing stamens, it will have none of 



