614 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



two inneifpetals standing erect and on guard about the precious pollen, 

 until the sunshine folds them back. An open poppy, when looked at 

 below, shows two petals, each semicircular, and overlapping each other 

 slightly ; looked at from above, we see two petals, also half circles, set at 

 right angles to the lower two, and divided from each other by the pistil. 



The pistil of the poppy is, from the beginning, a fascinating box. At 

 first, it is a vase with a round, circular cover, upon which are ridges, placed 

 like the spokes of a wheel. If these ridges are looked at with a lens, 

 particles of pollen may be seen adhering to them; this fact reveals the 

 secret that each ridge is a stigma, and all of these radiating stigmas are 

 joined so as better to catch the pollen. In a circle of fringe about the 

 pistil are the stamens. In the study of the stamens, we should note 

 whether their filaments expand or dilate near the 

 anthers, and we should also note the color of the masses 

 of pollen which crowd out from the anthers. 



Despite the many varieties of poppies, there are only 

 four species commonly cultivated. The opium poppy 

 has upon its foliage a white bloom, the filaments of its 

 stamens are dilated at the top, and its seed-capsule is 

 smooth. The oriental poppy has all of these characters, 

 except that its foliage is green and not covered with 

 bloom. Its blossom is scarlet and very large and has 

 a purple center in the petals and purple stamens; it 

 has three sepals. Its flower stalks are stout and leafy. 

 The corn poppy, which grows in the fields of Europe, is a 

 weed we gladly cultivate. This, naturally, has red 

 petals and is dark at the center of the flower; but it has 

 been changed by breeding until now we have many 

 varieties. Its foliage is finely cut and very bristly or 

 hairy. Its seed-capsule is not bristly. To see this 

 poppy at its best, we should visit northern Italy or southern France in 

 late May, where it makes the grain fields gorgeous. This is the original 

 parentof all the Shirley poppies. The Arctic, or Iceland poppy, has flow- 

 ers of satiny texture and finely crumpled ; its colors are yellow, orange or 

 white, but never scarlet like the corn poppy ; it has no leaves on its flower 

 stem, and its seed-capsule is hairy. Of these four species, the opium 

 poppy and the corn poppy are annuals, while the Arctic and the Oi - iental 

 species are perennials. 



The bees are over-fond of the poppy pollen and it is a delight to watch 

 the fervor with which they simply wallow in it, brushing off all of the 

 grains possible onto their hairy bodies. I have often seen a honey-bee 

 seize a bunch of the anthers and rub them against the under side of her 

 body, meanwhile standing on her head in an attitude of delirious joy. As 

 showing the honey-bee's eye for color, I have several times seen a bee drop 

 to the ground to examine a red petal which had fallen. This was plain 

 evidence that she trusted to the color to guide her to the pollen. 



But perhaps it is the development of the poppy seed-capsule which 

 we find the most interesting of the poppy performances. After fertiliza- 

 tion, the stigma-disk develops a scalloped edge, a stigma rounding out the 

 point of each scallop ; and a sharp ridge, which continues the length of the 

 globular capsule, runs from the center of each scallop. If examined on 

 the inside, it will be seen that the ridge on the capsule is the edge of a 



I 



The poppy seed- 

 shaker. 



Drawn by Anna C. 

 Stryke. 



