41 



so small as to be hardly apparent. The flowers also are 

 horizontal, and the pollen cannot fall upon the stigma; direct 

 fertilization is therefore not possible. It is here that the inter- 

 vention of insects becomes necessary — but to which must we 

 turn? Many dipteras visit the flowers of the Jasmine, but their 

 probosces are short, and they are not able to gather the nectar. It 

 is the same with bees. One Bombus hortorum, in certain cases 

 and by reason of the length of its proboscis, can obtain a little of 

 the nectar that is secreted at the base of the corolla tube, but here 

 there is another hindrance. This bee, for some reason or other, 

 is not fond of Jasmine flowers, and it is only occasionally that it 

 deigns to be attracted by them. The majority of the butterflies 

 are hardly more useful ; a beautiful little sphinx, however, bearing 

 the name Mactroglossa stcllatarum appears to accomplish the 

 task conscientiously. From eight o'clock in the morning until 

 eight o'clock in the evening one sees it in groups upon the flowers 

 of Jasmine. So agile is it that it is capable of visiting fifty 

 flowers a minute, and rarely goes to the same one twice. The 

 proboscis, 28 millimetres long, permits of its reaching the nectar, 

 but it can only obtain this latter by passing its proboscis through 

 the narrow passage between the anthers. Pollen then naturally 

 adheres to it, and this the obliging butterfly will unconsciously 

 deposit upon the stigma of the same or another flower. — Lc 



Jar din. 



Tree Lobelias of Abyssinia. — We are so accustomed to 

 look on Lobelias as annuals, or at most as perennials, that it 

 comes as a surprise to many to hear of tree lobelias : nevertheless, 

 various arboreous species of the genus Lobelia constitute one of 

 the most striking features in the vegetation of the open parts of 

 some of the loftiest mountains of tropical Africa, where they 

 grow at elevations of 6,000 to 14.000 feet. In habit they re- 

 semble a Cordyline or small Palm, having an unbranched stem, 

 with a crown of undivided, pendulous leaves, finally surmounted 

 by a terminal, erect inflorescence several feet in length. — Garden- 

 er f s Chronicle. 



