( 415 ) 
Secretion of water by the stamens. 
Verbascum. If an almost fully grown bud of Verbascum be 
carefully opened, a clear drop of fluid will certainly be found in it. 
Kerner x ), who observed this phenomenon in Verbascum phoeni- 
ceum and V. Blattaria, considered it. a very peculiar method of 
nectar-secretion, in which extremely minute droplets of honey were 
supposed to exude from the stomata. 
If the fluid is sucked up with filterpaper and tested with Feeling’s 
solution it is found to contain no trace of glucose. 
I have observed this secretion in the closed flowerbud of all species 
of Verbascum which I have been able to examine namely: V. phlo- 
moides L., V. Thapsus L., V. thapsforme Schr., V Phoeniceumh., 
V. Blattaria K. and a hybrid of V. Phoeniceum. 
The water may be most readily observed in buds which are about to 
unfold; in young buds it escapes observation or it is not yet present. 
The source of this water cannot be indicated with absolute cer¬ 
tainty. Kerner’s view, that it is secreted by the stomata of the 
corolla, is erroneous, because stomata do not occur in the corollar 
epidermis of Verbascum. Neither are glands or other trichomes 
on the corolla. 
I think, however, that I am justified in assuming that the water 
is secreted by the long hairs which cover the stamens. These hairs 
are generally coloured and have a peculiar structure; they consist 
of a single club-shaped cell with a long stalk and a finely marked 
cuticle. Delpino regarded these hairs as “Handhaben zum Anklammern 
der bliitenbesuchenden Insekten”, whereas Knuth considered, that 
they serve In addition to enhance the “Augenfalligkeit” of the Ver¬ 
bascum inflorescence, at least in those cases where the colour of the 
hairs differs from that of the corolla. 
I consider them to be water-glands. 
With Feeling’s solution they only give a very faint reaction for 
glucose and often the presence of glucose cannot be demonstrated at 
all. Occasionally a vertical, or more rarely horizontal slit is found 
m the club-shaped end; this is not a constant character, however. 
I do not mean by this, that Kerner is wrong in saying that honey 
ma .> be found in the flower of Verbascum. This genus is indeed 
considered to be nectarless, but with the exception of V. Blattaria 
an abundant secretion of .honey is found on the wall of the ovary, 
which is covered with a dense felt of branched hairs with very 
thick walls. The honey which is excreted by the ovary-wall, is 
x ) Kerner von Marilaun. Pflanzenleben. Zvreiter Band. Neuer Abdruck. S. 159. 
