INTRODUCTION 19 
water to the pollination of flowering plants by 
water. 
More probably the earliest scherone| plants were 
pollinated by wind. 
For this reason they are called anemophilous. 
Some plants are to-day pollinated by the wind, 
however, which were in earlier times pollinated by 
the agency of insects. In such cases they are 
allied to plants that are to-day pollinated by aid of 
insects. Thus the Mugwort amongst Composite, the 
Burnet amongst Rosacez, Meadow Rue amongst 
the Buttercup group are examples of this kind. In 
the Plantain, Docks and Willows the securing of 
pollination by the wind may have been primitive. 
And it is also highly probable that it is in the case 
of the Birch, Beech, and other catkin-bearing trees. 
In such plants the flowers are usually unattractive, 
often apetalous, there is no attractive scent, or 
honey, and the flowers do not form a tube, or other 
apparent adaptation to insect visits. They usually 
have an abundance of pollen, which is essential 
when the certainty of securing pollination is so 
precarious, and so much is liable to be wasted. The 
stigmas are also tassel-like or feathery and large to 
allow the pollen to be caught by them. In the case 
of trees the flowers are in bloom also before the 
leaves to assist this primitive mode of pollination. 
There are a large number of stamens to produce 
the quantity of pollen required, but in Sedges, 
Grasses, etc., there are not many stamens, but the 
