THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 123 



a small water animal which had been dyed green to resemble 

 a i)lant. Now comes the Japanese water plant which is des- 

 cribed as a triumph of plant life that rc(|uires nothing but 

 water and sunshine for growth. A small packet of seeds is 

 oftered for 25 cents and guaranteed to produce "an ideal fern 

 for the table." The seeds, however, are those of the edible 

 lentil which can be purchased of the grocer for less than 25 

 cents a quart, hut those who like to be humbugged will prob- 

 ably perfer the neat little packet and consider the fairy storv 

 that comes with it, worth the price. 



Stkkilitv IX LiiJKS. — Those w^ho cultivate the lilies 

 kni >w thai these plants seldom produce seeds. It is not tO(^ 

 nmcii to sav that the seeds of some kinds have never been seen, 

 li was the opinion of Darwin and other early botanists that 

 the production of bulbs and Imlblets in these species in a 

 measure compensated for the lack of seeds. Others assumed 

 that the lack of seeds is to l)e atlriljuted to the exhaustion of 

 the plant's erfergy in producing bulbs. Some time ago, A. B. 

 Stout made some investigations of the subject and concluded 

 that botli opinions are erroneous and that lilies do not pro- 

 duce seed-pods for the simple reas(^n that their own pollen 

 and frcquentlv the pollen of closely related individuals is im- 

 potent on their own stigmas. Lilies are capable of ])ro(lucing 

 abundant seeds when properly pollinated and will usually d(^ 

 so when i)ollinated with pollen from entirely different species. 

 There are many other plants whose sporophylls present simi- 

 lar conditions. Some plums, pears, and apples are self sterile. 

 Though such difficulties of pollination have long been known 

 to exist, nobody has suggested any reason for the curious 

 fact that after a species has originated, some defect in its 

 pollinating mechanism renders it likeh' to disappearance 

 through failure to reproduce itself. The production of bulb- 



