BELL-FLOWERS AND DAISIES 171 
small sharp bracts, which form a small sheath around 
each, the whole head having a corresponding array of 
bigger bracts about the base. The stamens first appear, 
and shed their pollen upon insects, and, when they have 
finished, the pistil begins to grow and projects its sticky 
top, so that it is sure to meet the bearers of pollen from 
younger flowers. The leaves also are of interest, for they 
spring from the stem in opposite pairs, their bases joining 
to form a cup around the main stem, in which rain and 
dew collect. One obvious purpose served by these cups 
is protection for the flower against crawling insects, for 
these climb up the stem, over the rim at the base of the 
leaves, and then tumble into the water. But the Teasel 
would seem to make a positive, as well as a negative, use 
of these fly-traps, for, as they decay, the flies, ants, etc., 
turn the water into a kind of soup, from which the plant 
is able to absorb much useful nourishment for itself. 
The heads of the Scabious approach still more nearly 
to the Composite type, for they are almost flat, and a hint 
of the “rayed” formation that we shall notice in the 
daisy is given by the slightly larger size of the outer ring 
of flowerets. They do not, however, show the special 
characteristic of the genuine Composite, which are known 
by this peculiarity, in addition to those we have described, 
that the anthers are all joined together in a ring, thus 
forming a tube, through which the style of the pistil has 
to pass when it begins to grow. 
Let us take as the type of the order, for a minuter 
inspection, the Ox-eye Daisy, or Marguerite, which one 
can find in almost any pasture throughout the summer, a 
good specimen measuring about 14 or even 2 inches 
across from tip to tip of the rays. At first glance, 
you would say that it is a flower with green, many- 
