. Blossom hosts and insect guests; how the heath family, the bluets, the figworts, the orchids and similar wild flowers welcome the bee, the fly, the wasp, the moth and other faithful insects. Fertilization of plants. 'Blossom Hosts ami Insect Guests. Fig. stigmas have withered when the pollen is shed—a device which, acting in association with the little ring of hairs, tells a strange story. It is not my fortune to have seen one of these singular blossoms, // A ] but from the description of the J process of fertilization given in Hermann Muller s wonderful work, aided by a botanical illustrati
. Blossom hosts and insect guests; how the heath family, the bluets, the figworts, the orchids and similar wild flowers welcome the bee, the fly, the wasp, the moth and other faithful insects. Fertilization of plants. 'Blossom Hosts ami Insect Guests. Fig. stigmas have withered when the pollen is shed—a device which, acting in association with the little ring of hairs, tells a strange story. It is not my fortune to have seen one of these singular blossoms, // A ] but from the description of the J process of fertilization given in Hermann Muller s wonderful work, aided by a botanical illustration of the structure of the flower, I am readily enabled to picture the pro- gressive stages of the mechanism. In the first stage (B, Fig. 2), small flies with bodies dusted with pollen from a previous arum blossom are entering the narrowed tube, easily passing through the drooping fringe of hairs. Nec- tar is secreted by the stigmas, and here the flies assemble, thus dusting them with pollen. Their appetite temporarily satisfied, the insects seek es- cape, but find their exit effectually barred by the intruding fringe of hairs (C). In this second stage, the stigmas, having now been fertiHzed, have withered, at the same time exuding a fresh supply of nectar, which again attracts the flies, whereupon, as shown at D, the anthers open and discharge their pollen upon the insects. In the fourth stage (E),. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton), 1850-1896; Davie, Eleanor E. New York, Newson
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Keywords: ., bookauthorgibsonwh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1901
