The Kansas University Science Bulletin (Vol. I, No. 1) — John Shaqi
The Kansas University Science Bulletin (Vol. I, No. 1)Various
Science
The Kansas University Science Bulletin (Vol. I, No. 1)
Various
Science -- Periodicals
From the structure of the flowers it would seem that self-pollination
would be impossible. When the flower is open, the stigma has never
been observed to be in contact with the terminal portion of the large
stamen. The stamens do not dehisce until after the flower has opened,
nor does the stigma come in contact with the tip of the anther in the
bud; thus, clistogamy would be out of the question. It appears from
the results obtained from plant III that spontaneous self-pollination
is possible. Of course, however, the positive result in this one case
should by no means be taken as conclusive evidence of self-pollination.
At the present, the most logical explanation to be suggested seems
to be that, when the flowers partially close at night, the tips of
the pistil and the large stamen are brought into contact. This might
occasionally occur, but it is by no means always the case. At the time
of the writing of this paper, material for the determination of this
point is not available, but two or three flowers examined at night
during the summer, before the results of the above experiments had
suggested the importance of a careful examination of a large series of
material, did not show the stamen and pistil in contact. Of course,
note will be taken of the fact that in only one out of thirteen flowers
on the plant did spontaneous pollination take place. Another suggestion
might be that, approaching so near as they do to each other, a puff of
pollen might be thrown from the large stamen and fall upon the pistil
when the plant is shaken.
In plants I and II, it will be seen that, in the first case, three
fully developed seed pods were obtained from twelve flowers the stigmas
of which were supplied with pollen from the large stamen of the same
flower. In the second case, one fully developed seed pod was obtained
from four pollinated flowers—just twenty-five per cent. in each case.
In the cases in which cross-pollination was effected between right-
and left-handed flowers opening simultaneously on the same raceme, we
find that, in the first, one pod of the two was only half developed at
the end of twenty days. Since the pods are normally fully developed
in somewhat less than this length of time, and this undeveloped pod
appears somewhat dried, its development seems doubtful. In the second
case, one pair of seed pods out of seven pairs of flowers crossed were
fully developed, and one seed pod from each of two other pairs were
fully and normally developed, making four out of fourteen flowers which
yielded seed pods—28.5 per cent.
Professor Todd observed only a small humblebee visiting the flowers
of this plant. Owing, probably, to more favorable opportunities for
observation, the writers have been able to secure other insects
collecting pollen.
The following is a list of the species:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account