32 SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWERING PLANTS, 



often without any corolla or any honey, possessing 

 nothing, in fact, wherewith to attract insects. Some- 

 times they are open, but they often remain closed as buds ; 

 but the anthers, being actually resting upon the stigmas, 

 the pollen at once pollinates them. Such plants as 

 Shepherd's-purse (Fig. 33), Groundsell, Chickweed, 

 Knot-grass (Fig. 87), imported from Europe, as well as 

 native kinds, all of which are now common weeds 

 in the Colony, illustrate this method very well. 



It may be noticed what a large quantity of pods 

 and seeds these self-pollinating and self-fertilizing 

 plants yield; so that it is no wonder how they will 

 smother the flowers in a garden if they be not ex- 

 terminated when in flower or before. There is a little 

 plant, a common weed by roadside and waste places, 

 throughout the Colony, called *' All-seed." This well 

 shows what an advantage self-fertilization is to plants. 



It must also be added that by far the greater 

 number of flowers, even when very specially adapted 

 to insects, can still pollinate themselves as well. It 

 is a curious fact that the violet never bears seed 

 with its sweet-scented, purple flowers in England^ 

 though it may do so in some warmer countries, yet 

 after the flowering is over, if you search below the 

 leaves, you will find numerous tiny buds. Every one 

 of these sets a quantity of seed, but they never open. 

 Indeed, the anthers do not burst, but the pollen-grains 

 set to work to make their tubes while inside the 



