[28-29]

Erythrina crista-galli

Circumnutation of terminal leaflet

[data not transcribed] F. 164. Scale 1/3 1/2 5 sets of lettering

619

Chap. E 10

Unless bees insects visit the flowers the parts do not move. Nevertheless many of the flowers on the plants which I had protected produced capsules, notwithstanding that their petals and pistil still retaining ed their original positions; produced capsules, and I found to my surprise that these capsules contained more seeds than those from flowers, the petals of which which had been artificially made to move. separated & then allowed the spring apart. Thus 9 capsules produced by undisturbed flowers contained 53 seeds; whilst 9 capsules from flowers, the petals of which had been made to artificially separated, contained only 32 seeds. But we should remember that if bees if allowed had been permitted to visit the flowers, they would have visited them at the best time for fertilisation, they and would moreover generally have brought pollen from another plant, and this would have added greatly to their fertility.

The flowers the petals of which were separated by being, touched were allowed to spring apart, certainly set their capsules before the others which were left undisturbed under the net. To show with what certainty the flowers are visited by bees, I may

[Cross and self fertilisation, p. 359: "Unless insects visit the flowers the parts do not move. Nevertheless, many of the flowers on the plants which I had protected produced capsules, notwithstanding that their petals and pistils still retained their original position; and I found to my surprise that these capsules contained more seeds than those from flowers, the petals of which had been artificially separated and allowed to spring apart. Thus, nine capsules produced by undisturbed flowers contained fifty-three seeds; whilst nine capsules from flowers, the petals of which had been artificially separated, contained only thirty-two seeds. But we should remember that if bees had been permitted to visit these flowers, they would have visited them at the best time for fertilisation. The flowers, the petals of which had been artificially separated, set their capsules before those which were left undisturbed under the net. To show with what certainty the flowers are visited by bees, I may add that on one occasion all the flowers on some unprotected plants were examined, and every single one had its petals separated; and, on a second occasion, forty-one out of forty-three flowers were in this state. Hildebrand states (Pring. Jahr. f. wiss. Botanik, B. vii. page 450) that the mechanism of the parts in this species is nearly the same as in C. ochroleuca, which he has fully described."]