POLLEN^. 



339 



POLLEN. 



seeds. Notice how tlie weeds iu our garden 

 will struggle and fight, as it were, to get a 

 foot-hold until they can get a crop of seeds 

 ripened, and then notice the numerous 

 ways they adopt to scatter this seed as 

 widely as possible. If the plants were 

 animated beings, we might almost call it 

 tricks and sharp practice ; some of the seeds 

 have wings, and fly like grasshoppers ; oth- 

 ers have hooks, and catch on our clothing, 

 and on the fur of different animals, in the 

 hope of being carried to some spot where 

 they may have a more favorable place to 

 germinate. Fruits and berries (when the 



pr, 



Fig. IO.-^Okchid (Order Onludacea) Blossoms and Details. 

 Flower of Orchis Morio, Sepals, two Petals, aud side of Spur re 

 moved, with Apis MeUifica {ap). Hive Bee, sucking- Neetar— a. An- 

 ther; po, Pollinium or Pollen Mass; r, Ro-tellum: st. Stigma (side 

 view); /, Labellum; ov. Ovary; n, Nectary; hr. Bract B, Bee fer- 

 tilizing- Orchis Morio— a. Anther with Pollinium removed; po, Pol- 

 linium attached to Bee's Head aud applied to Stig-ma; other Letter- 

 ing-s as before. C, Front View of Orchis Morio, magnified tliree 

 times, Sepals and two Petals Removed— Ir, Lip (if Rostellum; /, f. 

 Fissures in Front of Anther Cells (a', a); other Lcttering-s as before 

 D. Pollen Masses, etc—jio, PoUinia; c, Caudiele; vd, Visrid Disc; vg. 

 Viscid Globe; Ir, Lip of (?-) Rostellum; E, Head of Bpo, carrying- (po) 

 Pollinium-((?i, Antennfe. F, Position of (po) PoUinia (thirty sec- 

 onds later), partially depressed. O, Head of Bee (in. Antennae: po, 

 PoUinia (sixty seconds later) fully depressed. H, Pollen Granules 

 (much magnified), held in pnckets by thin elastic threads. I, Head 

 of Bee, carrying (po) PoUinia of one of the Vandece—an, Antenna? 

 —Frtm Cheshire,. 



seeds are fully ripened), instead of clothing 

 themselves in the sober green of the foliage 

 surrounding them, affect scarlet red and 

 other bright colors, and, sometimes, fancy 

 stripes, just to induce the buxls to take them 

 in preference to the fruit of other trees. 

 Why do they want their fruits to be eaten 

 by the birds, if it is their purpose to, se- 

 cure a place for their seed? Well, if you 

 examine you will find that the seed is en- 



cased in a horny shell that is proof against 

 the digestive organs of the bird, and these 

 seeds and stones are, therefore, voided fre- 

 quently, if not invariably, while on the wing, 

 in just the condition to take root in the 

 soil wherever they may be cast. Bear this 

 in mind while we go back a little to the bees 

 and flowers. 



We have suggested that the honey is placed 

 in flowers to attract the bees. After a 

 bee has found honey in one flower it will 

 be very likely to e.Kaiuine others of a similar 

 kind or appearance. If the flowers were all 

 green, like the leaves of the plant, the insects 

 would have much more 

 trouble in hunting them 

 up than they now do. be- 

 cause contrasting colors, 

 such as the white and red 

 of the clovers, make them 

 conspicuous. If you look 

 back to what we said about 

 corn and ragweed you will 

 see that the flowers of both 

 are a plain green, for they 

 have no need of bees to in- 

 sure fertilization. 



It is easily proven that 

 bees have a sort of tele- 

 scopic vision that enables 

 them to perceive objects at 

 long distances. When a 

 bee starts out in the morn- 

 ing it circles up aloft, then 

 takes a view, and starts out 

 for business. If one field 

 of clover should be more 

 conspicuous than the rest, 

 it would probably give it 

 the preference— at least, so 

 far ;is to make an examin- 

 ation. If it has been at 

 work on a profitable field 

 the day before, it will, 

 doubtless, strike for it 

 again without any pream- 

 ble. That bees look for 

 honey, and hunt it out, we 

 have proven to our full sat- 

 isfaction; and we are well convinced that 

 what is often called instinct, and allowed 

 to drop there, is only profiting by experi- 

 ence and an excellent memory of past 

 events, as human beings do. We say that 

 bees instinctively go to the flowers for 

 honey. We have watched them in the spring ' 

 when the blossoms first open, and many a 

 bee, very likely a young one that has never 

 before seen a blossom, will examine the 



