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
[M] It must be stated that in a later paper (Robertson, Charles:
Flowers and Insects, V. Bot. Gaz., vol. XV, No. 8, pp. 199-204),
Charles Robertson does not give the same results as those found by
Thomas Meehan. Robertson says: “Two long stamens, one on each side of
the style, furnish pollen for cross-fertilization. They have inflated
anthers which probably have a bellows-like action, like the long stamen
of _Solanun rostratum_ and _Rhexia virginica_.” Meehan states expressly
in his paper that in the case of _C. marilandica_ he was sure no pollen
was ejected, as Todd found for _S. rostratum_, since in the flowers,
which were covered with a gauze bag, the membrane at the apex was never
ruptured when the stamens were ready to fall. Robertson describes the
method of extracting the pollen in _C. chamæcrista_ in a way which is
essentially the same as Todd gives for _S. rostratum_. He then says,
in speaking of _C. marilandica_: “Four small stamens furnish pollen
for the visitors. Bumblebees milk the pollen out of these, using
their jaws, as in the case of _chamæcrista_.” Meehan says: “Nor was
there any draw-out of the pollen, as observed by Professor Todd. It
is abstracted solely through the pores; and, although I could see no
evidence that such was actually the case, I suspect that fertilization
could only occur through some of this extracted pollen escaping from
the insect to the stigma.” It must be noted here that the method which
Meehan describes for the method of opening of the anthers, the pollen
being “abstracted solely through the pores,” does not agree with the
method described by other observers. Leclerc du Sablon, in a paper,
“Recherches sur la Structure et la Dehiscence des Anthers,” in vol. I
of the seventh series of Annales des Sciences Nouvelles, discusses the
anatomical modifications of the anther walls, by which dehiscence is
secured. His observations cover _Cassia cremophilia_ and _Solanum_.
His observations do not cover a sufficient number of species to make
them of the greatest value in deciding the present points. The author
presents, in a condensed form, his results in: Note sur la Dehiscence
des Anthers, La Belgique Horticole, vol. XXXIV, pp. 148-150, 1884.
Robertson says, in speaking of the central of the three long stamens:
“Bees, no doubt, force the pollen out of this as they do from the
short stamens.” Meehan says: “I watched a mass of plants containing
eighty-eight flower-stems on the 30th of July, and the same lot for
an hour on the 6th of August, but saw no attempt to get pollen from
the longer anthers or to use them in any way but as a platform. It
would indeed be hardly possible for the bee to stand anywhere so as
to get power to pierce the apical membranes of the longer stamens.
When the flower matured and the anthers were ready to fall they were
examined-the four short ones were empty sacs-the three lower ones
proved that they had not served any purpose to the bees, for they were
full of pollen.”
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