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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
69
But
the
twilight
cluster
in
the
woods
may
tell
us
a
pretty
story.
Here
a
tiny
moth
hovers
above
the
tempting
chalice,
and
now
settles
upon
it
with
eager
tongue
extended
for
the
nectar
at
its
centre.
What
an
immediate
and
expressive
welcome!
No
sooner
has
this
little
feathery
body
touched
the
filaments
than
the
eager
anthers
are
released
from
their
pockets,
and,
springing
inwards,
clasp
their
little
visitor,
at
the
same
time
decorating
him
with
their
compliments
of
webby
pollen
(A,
Fig.
5).
The
nectary
now
drained
of
its
sweets,
the
moth
creeps
or
flutters
to
a
second
blossom,
and
its
pollen-dusted
body
thus
coming
in
contact
with
its
stigma,
cross-fertilization
is
accomplished.
The
pollen
of
the
laurel
differs
from
that
of
most
of
the
Heath
blooms,
its
grains
being
more
or
less
adherent
by
a
cobwebby
connective
which
permeates
the
mass
as
indicated
in
my
magnified
representation
(B,
Fig.
5).
It
is
probable
that
an
accessory
cross-fertilization
frequently
results
from
a
mass
of
the
pollen
falling
directly
upon
the
stigma
of
a
neighboring
blossom,
or
even
upon
its
own
stigma,
but
even
in
the
latter
case,
as
has
been
absolutely
demonstrated
as
a
general
law
by
the
experiments
of
Darwin,
the
pollen
from
a
separate
flower
is
almost
invariably
prepotent,
and
leads
to
the
most
perfect
fruition,
and
thus
to
the
survival
of
the
fittest--the
cross-fertilized.
And,
in
any
event,
the
insect
is
to
be
credited
for
the
release
of
the
tiny
catapults
by
which
the
pollen
is
discharged.
But
the
laurel
may
be
considered
as
an
exceptional
example
of
the
Heath
family.
Let
us
look
at
a
more
perfect
type
of
the
order
to
which
it
belongs,
the
globular
blossom
of
the
Andromeda
(A.
ligustrina).
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