THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 61 



spots were for. millions of years before mankind even heji^an 

 to look at them. It was not, in fact, until the middle of the 

 17th century that the German l^)otanist, Sprengel. ponderinj^ 

 over the visits of the insects to the flowers in his garden, solv- 

 ed the mystery of the blossoms and discovered their connec- 

 tion with the i)roduction of seeds. 



Since Sprengel's day we have found out much that he 

 did not know about the flowers and have discovered numerous 

 others that the ancients probably did not regard as flowers at 

 all. Even now we may find individuals who reserve the 

 title for the bright-colored forms and speak of all others as 

 weeds. Such people are commcjnly of the opinion that our 

 forest trees do not bloom. They can usually recall seeing 

 certain caterpillar-like structures on the trees in the spring, 

 l)ut they regard these as mere excrescences to be throwMi off 

 with the bud-scales and loose bark as a natural accompanimetit 

 of the resumption of growth. When the pollen is showered 

 down from the millions of pine blossoms the average individ- 

 ual never surmises its origin but is convinced that some dis- 

 tant volcano has suddenlv become active and thrown out a 

 cloud of sulphur. 



It is, of course, ([uite natural that the novice should be 

 primarily interested in the flowers. They are by long odds 

 the most attractive of the plant parts and make a nearly uni- 

 versal appeal. Those who take up the study of plants out of 

 school nearly always begin with tlie blossoms. In a few case 

 the beginner may have his curiosity aroused by a fern, a 

 moss, a lichen or a bit of seaweed and develop a predilection 

 for investigating such things, but if left to himself, he usual- 

 ly begins with the largest and brightest blossoms. Those who 

 have become speciallv interested in the plants can usually re- 

 call the very species and the incidents which sent them off on 



