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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
73
In
some
flowers
this
separation
is
effected,
as
I
have
shown,
by
their
maturing
at
different
periods;
in
others,
as
in
the
iris,
by
mere
mechanical
means;
while
in
a
long
list
of
plants,
as
in
the
willow,
poplar,
hemp,
oak,
and
nettle,
the
cross-fertilization
is
absolutely
necessitated
by
the
fact
of
the
staminate
and
stigmatic
flowers
being
either
separated
on
the
same
stalk
or
on
different
plants,
the
pollen
being
carried
by
insects
or
the
wind.
We
may
see
a
pretty
illustration
of
this
in
the
little
wild
flower
known
as
the
devil's-bit
(Chamaelirium
luteum,),
whose
long,
white,
tapering
spire
of
feathery
bloom
may
often
be
seen
rising
above
the
sedges
in
the
swamp.
Two
years
ago
I
chanced
upon
a
little
colony
of
four
or
five
plants
at
the
edge
of
a
bog.
The
flowers,
all
of
them,
were
mere
petals
and
stamens
(B,
Fig.
8).
I
looked
in
vain
for
a
single
stigmatic
plant
or
flower;
but
far
across
the
swamp,
a
thousand
feet
distant,
I
at
length
discovered
a
single
spire,
composed
entirely
of
pistillate
flowers,
as
shown
in
A
(Fig.
8),
and
my
magnifying-glass
clearly
revealed
the
pollen
upon
their
stigmas--doubtless
a
welcome
message
brought
from
the
isolated
affinity
afar
by
some
winged
sponsor,
to
whom
the
peculiar
fragrance
of
the
flower
offers
a
special
attraction,
and
thus
to
whom
the
fortunes
of
the
devil's-bit
have
been
committed.
The
presence
of
fragrance
and
honey
in
a
dioecious
flower
may
be
accepted
in
the
abstract
as
almost
conclusive
of
an
insect
affinity,
as
in
most
flowers
of
this
class,
notably
the
beech,
pine,
dock,
grasses,
etc.,
the
wind
is
the
fertilizing
agent,
and
there
is
absence
alike
of
conspicuous
color,
fragrance,
and
nectar--attributes
which
refer
alone
to
insects,
or
possibly
humming-birds
in
certain
species.
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