148 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 
to a distance by the wind, the familiar “clocks” 
forming a typical parachute apparatus for the 
purpose. 
THE BLUEBELL GROUP. 
There is no flower perhaps more popular than the 
Bluebell (the hair or hare bell, in England). Of this 
order, the Campanulacez, there are about 1000 
species, which are chiefly found in the temperate 
regions, and the Mediterranean region, or subtropical 
regions. 
Most of them are herbaceous perennials, but a few 
are trees or shrubs. 
The leaves are alternate, with no stipules, with 
latex. The stem is generally erect, bearing terminal 
or axillary flowers, usually racemose or cymose. 
The flowers are hermaphrodite, regular, or ligulate, 
with five divisions in the calyx seated on the ovary, 
and persistent till the fruit is ripe. The corolla is 
five-lobed and monopetalous, and withers when the 
fruit is ripe. The stamens are five and alternate with 
the corolla lobes. The anthers are sometimes united 
as in Jasione, and open inwards. 
The fruit is a capsule, dry and dehiscent, opening 
by means of valves laterally or at the top, and is 
crowned with the withered calyx and corolla. 
The anthers ripen first. There is honey at the base 
of the style. The triangular bases of the stamens 
cover it and are close together so that a long 
proboscis is needed to reach down to it. The flowers, 
