* ey Liye 
Worlh we I ti Wve . 
Pistillate Female Blossoms of the 
English Hollies 
They are conspicuous for the bulbous 
central organ called the pistil or 
ovary, and which when fertilized by 
pollen from the male blooms will 
expand and ripen into the familiar 
red berry of the holly. The four 
anther tipped stamens extending re- 
cumbent between the pistil and the 
flower petals are nonfunctional relics 
of disuse. Note the honeyed surface 
sparkling with reflected light at the 
top of each infertile ovary and 
known: as the stigma. It is this 
ovarian exudation of fragrant nectar 
which proves so attractive to the 
bees that they most obligingly, 
though unconsciously, transfer the 
fertilizing pollen from the male to 
the female flowers of the hollies in 
their industrious quest for sweets. 
36 
