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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
72
In
most
flowers,
with
the
exception
of
the
orchids,
the
stamens
and
pollen
are
plainly
visible;
but
who
ever
sees
the
anthers
of
the
blue-flag?
Surely
none
but
the
analytical
botanist
and
the
companion
insect
to
whom
it
is
so
artfully
adjusted
and
so
demonstrative.
This
insect
is
likely
to
be
either
a
bumblebee
or
a
species
of
large
fly.
In
apt
illustration
of
Sprengel's
theory
of
the
"path-finder"
or
honey-guide,
the
insect
does
not
alight
at
the
centre
of
the
flower,
but
upon
one
of
the
three
large
drooping
sepals,
whose
veins,
converging
to
the
narrow
trough
above,
indicate
the
path
to
the
nectar.
Closely
overarching
this
portion
is
a
long
and
narrow
curved
roof--one
of
three
divisions
to
the
style,
each
surmounting
its
veined
sepals.
Beneath
this
our
visiting
bee
disappears,
and
a
glance
at
my
sectional
drawing
shows
what
happens.
Concealed
within,
against
the
ridge-pole,
as
it
were,
the
anther
awaits
his
coming,
and
in
his
passage
to
and
from
the
nectar
below
spreads
its
pollen
over
his
head
and
back.
Having
backed
out
of
this
segment
of
the
blossom
(A,
Fig.
7),
he
proceeds
to
the
next;
but
the
shelf-like
stigma
awaits
him
at
the
door,
and
scrapes
off
or
rubs
off
a
few
grains
of
the
pollen
from
his
back
(B).
Thus
he
continues
until
the
third
segment
is
reached,
from
which
he
carries
away
a
fresh
load
of
pollen
to
another
flower.
It
will
be
seen
that
only
the
outer
side
of
this
appendage
is
stigmatic,
and
that
it
is
thus
naturally
impossible
for
the
blue-flag
to
self-fertilize--only
one
instance
of
thousands
in
which
the
anther
and
stigma,
though
placed
in
the
closest
proximity,
and
apparently
even
in
contact--seemingly
with
the
design
of
self-fertilization--are
actually
more
perfectly
separated
functionally
than
if
in
separate
flowers,
the
insect
alone
consummating
their
affinity.
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