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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
75
[Footnote
A:
In
numerous
instances
observed
since
the
above
was
written
I
have
noted
the
larger
bumblebees
upon
the
blossom.
These
insects
have
a
different
method
of
approach,
hanging
beneath
the
flower,
the
anthers
being
clapped
against
their
thorax
at
the
juncture
of
the
wings,
instead
of
the
abdomen,
as
in
the
smaller
bee.]
If
their
dainty
mechanism
excite
our
wonder,
what
shall
be
said
of
the
revelations
in
the
great
order
of
the
Compositae,
where
each
so-called
flower,
as
in
the
dandelion,
daisy,
cone-flower,
marigold,
is
really
a
dense
cluster
of
minute
flowers,
each
as
perfect
in
its
construction
as
in
the
examples
already
mentioned,
each
with
its
own
peculiar
plan
designed
to
insure
the
transfer
of
its
own
pollen
to
the
stigma
of
its
neighbor,
while
excluding
it
from
its
own?
All
summer
long
the
cone-flower,
Fig.
10
(Rudbeckia
hirta),
blooms
in
our
fields,
but
how
few
of
us
imagine
the
strange
processes
which
are
being
enacted
in
that
purple
cone!
Let
us
examine
it
closely.
If
we
pluck
one
of
the
blossom's
heads
and
keep
it
in
a
vase
over-night,
we
shall
probably
see
on
the
following
morning
a
tiny
yellow
ring
of
pollen
encircling
the
outer
edge
of
the
cone.
In
this
way
only
are
we
likely
to
see
the
ring
in
its
perfection,
as
in
a
state
of
nature
the
wind
and
insects
rarely
permit
it
to
remain.
If
we
now
with
a
sharp
knife
make
a
vertical
section,
as
shown
at
A
(Fig.
3),
we
may
observe
the
conical
receptacle
studded
with
its
embryo
seeds,
each
bearing
a
tiny
tubular
blossom.
Three
distinct
forms
of
these
flowers
are
to
be
seen.
The
lower
and
older
ones
are
conspicuous
by
their
double
feathery
tails,
the
next
by
their
extended
anthers
bearing
the
pollen
at
their
extremity,
and
above
these
again
the
buds
in
all
stages
of
growth.
These
various
states
are
indicated
in
Fig.
11.
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