. Botany for young people : Part II. How plants behave ; how they move, climb, employ insects to work for them, & c. Botany. AND CROSS-FERTILIZE THEIR FLOWERS. 27 55. The peculiarities are mainly these: First, the better to attract certain insects and repay them for their service, a sepa- rate organ for the nectar — in this in- stance a long pouch or honey-tube — is attached to the flower. Then, to econo- mize the pollen, the whole of it in each cell of the anther is done up in little packets or coarser grains, which are tied, as it were, to each other by delicate elastic threads, and all
. Botany for young people : Part II. How plants behave ; how they move, climb, employ insects to work for them, & c. Botany. AND CROSS-FERTILIZE THEIR FLOWERS. 27 55. The peculiarities are mainly these: First, the better to attract certain insects and repay them for their service, a sepa- rate organ for the nectar — in this in- stance a long pouch or honey-tube — is attached to the flower. Then, to econo- mize the pollen, the whole of it in each cell of the anther is done up in little packets or coarser grains, which are tied, as it were, to each other by delicate elastic threads, and all made fast by similar threads to the upper end of a central stalk. Finally, to make sure of its being taken by the insect and not dropped or lost in the carrying, the other end of this stalk bears a flat disk, commonly button-shaped, the exposed face of which is very sticky; and this is placed just where it will be pretty sure to be attached to the head or proboscis of an insect that comes to drain the honey-tube. So that the insect, on ris- ing from his meal, will probably cai-ry off bodily the whole pollen of that flower (or of one of its anther-cells), and be- stow it, or some of it, upon the next flower or flowers visited. 56. In this particular species, the front petal is, as usual, the insect's landing- place. The other petals are more arch- ing than the front view of the flower in Fig. 16 represents, and obstruct access on all other sides. The long and narrow front petal turns downwards and allows convenient approach. Underneath hangs. Fig. 16. Flower of Greater Green Orchis (HabeDaria orbiculata). 17. Its stamen and stigma more enlarged. 18. One of the pollen-masses with its stalk and disk, equally enlarged. 19. Its disk and a part of the stalk more 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 orig
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1872
