THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 53 



The blossoms are so numerous that the whole surface of 

 the plant is nearly covered and they are the most heavenly 

 blue with a hint of crimson underneath. As the day advances 

 the blue grows purplish, then purple, and by afternoon the 

 flowers are crimson. It is a favorite vine for an arbor or 

 porch as it covers in a few weeks anything that stands in its 

 way. Some of the vines stretch out on the ground for rods, 

 others mount to the roofs, then reach to the tree branches, and 

 when you look again they are to the top of the largest tree, 

 fairly covering and bending it down. 



To tell the truth, the vine, beautiful and cleanly as it is, is 

 a perfect pest for it wants to possess the earth and it succeeds 

 if you allow a root of it to retain a foothold. 



I never thought much about this characteristic till I began 

 to collect seeds ; then to my surprise I could not find any 

 though there had been millions of blossoms. In the three years 

 I have been interested in seeds, I have succeeded in getting 

 about a teaspoon ful only. Then came the cjuestion, why 

 were there no seeds when the pink morning glory a few feet 

 away seemed to be wholly resolving itself with seed. A little 

 observation and the story was told. The flower is very large, 

 about the size of a large coffee cup and is frequented by hum- 

 ming birds and bumble bees. Now these fellows were never 

 once seen to go into the cup of the corrolla in the polite and 

 proper way, but always pierced the base of the tube, going 

 quickly from one to another. This was a cute and quick way 

 to get a meal of honey, but the moon-flower must perforce 

 find a new method to perpetuate itself. And so for how many 

 ages, who knows, it has evolved for itself a way to cover the 

 earth and has grown robust and able to choke out anything 

 that comes in its way — sans seeds. 



Orange, Cal. 



