THE CYCLE OF LIFE : FLOWERS 



53 



tion that normally belongs to a different organ, and that one 

 organ may take on a variety of functions. 



42. Conservation of wild flowers. People are coming to have 

 more time for recreation, and it is becoming easier to get into 

 the woods and unoccupied spaces. As a 

 result more and more people are tempted 

 to gather wild ilowers because of their 

 beauty and interest. There has actually 

 been a serious reduction in many species. 

 ]Many of our native plants have been al- 

 most entirely exterminated, and others 

 are going fast in certain parts of the coun- 

 try. The trillium, or wake-robin, of which 

 there are several species, is almost un- 

 known in regions where it was very plen- 

 tiful a dozen or twenty years ago. The 

 same is true of the dogtooth violet and of 

 the clintonia, and of many native orchids. 

 The dogwood is so conspicuous in the 

 spring that hiking parties and automo- 

 bile tourists are tempted to carry away 

 large quantities of the blossom-bearing 

 branches. 



Those of us who value beauty in nature 

 (which includes, of course, the colors of 

 flowers and the songs of birds), and who 

 realize the importance of preserving it 

 for as many as possible to enjoy, will do 

 all we can to protect from wanton de- 

 struction or wasteful collection the wild flowers that we still 

 have with us. We can all get more enjoyment by leaving them 

 in their natural surroundings. For collecting or scientific study 

 we can usually get enough by means of photographs and notes 

 and sketches. For the study of structure we can use either 

 cultivated plants or weeds, the destruction of which will do the 

 community more good than harm. 



Fig. 



2 0. Jack-in-the- 

 pulpit 



In plants of this family 

 there are two kinds of 

 flowers, the pistil-bearing 

 and the stamen-bearing. 

 Both are found growing 

 in clusters on the same 

 stalk, the pistil flowers 

 near the base and the 

 stamen flowers toward the 

 end. A large, leaflike 

 organ, the spathe, almost 

 incloses the spike bear- 

 ing the flowers 



