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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
104
A
single
blossom
of
the
species
is
shown
in
Fig.
5,
the
parts
indexed.
The
opening
to
the
nectary
is
seen
just
below
the
stigmatic
surface,
the
nectary
itself
being
nearly
two
inches
in
length.
The
pollen
is
in
two
club-like
bodies,
each
hidden
within
a
fissured
pouch
on
either
side
of
the
stigma,
and
coming
to
the
surface
at
the
base
in
their
opposing
sticky
discs
as
shown.
Many
of
the
group
Habenaria
or
Platanthera,
to
which
this
flower
belongs,
are
similarly
planned.
But
mark
the
peculiarly
logical
association
of
the
parts
here
exhibited.
The
nectary
implies
a
welcome
to
a
tongue
two
inches
long,
and
will
reward
none
other.
This
clearly
shuts
out
the
bees,
butterflies,
and
smaller
moths.
What
insect,
then,
is
here
implied?
The
sphinx-moth
again,
one
of
the
lesser
of
the
group.
A
larger
individual
might
sip
the
nectar,
it
is
true,
but
its
longer
tongue
would
reach
the
base
of
the
tube
without
effecting
the
slightest
contact
with
the
pollen,
which
is
of
course
the
desideratum
here
embodied,
and
which
has
reference
to
a
tongue
corresponding
to
the
length
of
the
nectary.
There
are
many
of
these
smaller
sphinxes.
Let
us
suppose
one
to
be
hovering
at
the
blossom's
throat.
Its
slender
capillary
tongue
enters
the
opening.
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