LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



GARDEN 



THE /1/5(IERICP BOTpiET. 



Vol. V. BINGHAMTON, N. Y., SEPTEMBER, 1903. No. 3, 



THE DEFENCES OF PLANTS. 



BY DR. WILLIAM WHITMAN BAILEY. 



FEW persons think of the ways in which plants defend 

 themselves against enemies or agressors. The facts 

 are so patent that we fail to notice them. Eight people 

 out often have their eyes shut to all natural phenomena. 

 Sometimes we have thought that we shall be held account- 

 able for our neglect; but this is trespassing on meta- 

 physics. 



Even the least observant have had experiences with 

 thistles, briers, prickly -pears and the like. The trouble is 

 that few persons ask the wh}' and wherefore of things. 

 There is a reason for every hair or thorn. The study of 

 these defences is one of the most fascinating branches of 

 botany ; a division of that delightful science, moreover, 

 not hedged about with technicalities. Terms are the bug- 

 bears of the beginner; here we have few to deal with. 



It stands to reason that the flowers and fruits, so im- 

 portant themselves, should be in someway protected. We 

 often find them so guarded by most ingenious contriv- 

 ances. Many plants, like the catch-flys, have bands of 

 stick}^ secretion at the nodes. In this adhesive matter ants 

 or plant-lice get mired. But suppose it should happen 

 that a blade of grass blown against the stem, acted as a 

 step-ladder to the aggressor. Nature provides for such a 

 contingency by repeating the protection at the superior 

 nodes. A still neater contrivance is isolation by water. 

 Everyone knows how in the East, where ants are a crying 

 nuisance, tables are protected against their depredations 

 by immersing the legs in Avater ; or how sometimes a flor- 

 ist will protect a tender plant by setting it's pot on an- 



