ECOLOGY AND THE FLOWERING PROCESS 45 



cross-pollination for fertilization is of course doomed if it flowers by 

 itself. It will not transmit this anti-social attitude to any off'spring! 

 Thus the hard facts of survival dictate a rather close organization 

 within natural populations, and there is little room for the non- 

 conformist, who survives only with difficulty and may depend for 

 his survival upon at least one other like himself. Yet, as mentioned 

 above, it might be the non-conformist who provides the plasticity 

 for migration into newly available niches, or into more suitable 

 situations at times of climatic change. Progress could depend upon 

 him. Of course, we will refrain from drawing any sort of human 

 moral from all of this ! 



