Magenta to Pink 



pathfinder to the nectary, are crowded in oblong spikes an inch 

 and a half long or less on the Hairy Bush Clover (I. hirta). The 

 stem, which may attain four feet, or half that height, is usually 

 branched ; and the entire plant is often downy to the point of 

 silkiness. 



Dense clusters of the yellowish-white flowers of the Round- 

 headed Bush Clover {L. capitata) are seated in the upper axils of 

 the silvery-hairy, wand-like stem. Pink streaks at the base of 

 the standard petal serve as pathfinders, and its infolded edges 

 guide the bee's tongue straight to the opening in the stamen tube 

 through which he sucks. 



Wild or Spotted Geranium or Crane's-Bill ; 

 Alum-root 



{Gerariium maculahim) Geranium family 



Flowers — Pale magenta, purplish pink, or lavender, regular, i to 

 i^ in. broad, solitary or a pair, borne on elongated pe- 

 duncles, generally with pair of leaves at their base. Calyx of 

 5 lapping, pointed sepals ; 5 petals, woolly at base ; 16 sta- 

 mens ; I pistil with 5 styles. Fruit: A slender capsule 

 pointed like a crane's bill. In maturity it ejects seeds elas- 

 tically far from the parent plant. Stem : i to 2 ft. high, hairy, 

 slender, simple or branching above. Leaves: Older ones 

 sometimes spotted with white ; basal ones 3 to 6 in. wide, 3 

 to 5 parted, variously cleft and toothed ; 2 stem leaves oppo- 

 site. 



Pf-ef erred Habitat— O'^Q.n woods, thickets, and shady roadsides. 



Flo7aeri7ig Season — April— J uly . 



Distribution — Newfoundland to Georgia, and westward a thousand 

 miles. 



Sprengel, who was the first to exalt flowers above the level 

 of mere botanical specimens, had his attention led to the intimate 

 relationship existing between plants and insects by studying out 

 the meaning of the hairy corolla of the common wild geranium 

 of Germany (G. sylvaticum), being convinced, as he wrote in 

 1787, that " the wise Author of Nature has not made even a sin- 

 gle hair without a definite design." A hundred years before, 

 Nehemias Grew had said that it was necessary for pollen to reach 

 the stigma of a flower in order that it might set fertile seed ; and 

 Linnaeus had to come to his aid with conclusive evidence to con- 

 vince a doubting world that this was true. Sprengel made the 

 next step forward, but his writings lay neglected over seventy 

 years because he advanced the then incredible and only partially 

 true statement that a flower is fertilized by insects which carry 



105 



