. Textbook of botany. Botany. 274 TEXTBOOK OF BOTANY stigma of the same pistil and pushes the ball of pollen down into the hollow style — just as though she intended to make sure of the pollination of that particular flower. When the eggs hatch in the ovary of the flower, the young grubs eat some of the seeds into which the ovules have developed; after a time, the grubs escape through holes that they make in the ovary wall. The ovules, of course, would not have grown into seeds if the flower had not been pollinated; therefore, the pol- lination by the mother moth insured a supply of food for h
. Textbook of botany. Botany. 274 TEXTBOOK OF BOTANY stigma of the same pistil and pushes the ball of pollen down into the hollow style — just as though she intended to make sure of the pollination of that particular flower. When the eggs hatch in the ovary of the flower, the young grubs eat some of the seeds into which the ovules have developed; after a time, the grubs escape through holes that they make in the ovary wall. The ovules, of course, would not have grown into seeds if the flower had not been pollinated; therefore, the pol- lination by the mother moth insured a supply of food for her young. But the grubs eat only part of the many seeds that the ovary contains. So the plant secures a supply of seeds, and in this way it also is benefited by the visit of the moth. The pollen of Yucca is not carried by the wind; and if the moth for any reason does not visit the plant, no seeds are formed. The same thing is true if it is grown where the moth does not live, as for example in European gardens. 284. Pollination of the Fig. — The fig that we eat is not a fruit, but the hollow end of a peduncle inside which was borne a cluster of flowers. The arrangement of the flowers is shown in Figure 163. It is the tissues of the hollow end of the peduncle that become soft and juicy. In eating a fig we bite many small, hard bodies; these are the real fruits. The flowers of the fig are of three kinds : staminate flowers, pistillate flowers with long styles, and pistillate flowers with short styles. Certain trees bear figs which when young con- tain only long-styled pistillate flowers; the figs borne on other trees contain staminate flowers near the openings of their sac-like cavities and short-styled pistillate flowers in. Fig. 162. — A Yucca flower; the moth is forcing a mass of pollen into the cavity of the style. After Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and app
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