FLOWERS AND INSECTS 



very expensive arrangement. It is so much a matter of pure 

 chance that a grain arrives at its right destination. Sup- 

 pose that a flower is giving out clouds of pollen, then the 

 chance of a pollen grain reaching a female flower only five feet 

 away is very small, even if the stigma of the female flower 

 is a quarter of an inch in diameter. The chance of pollen 

 reaching it will only be about 1 to 1440; 1439 pollen 

 grains will be wasted ^ for every one that reaches the stigma. 

 But even this is not quite a fair calculation, for if the female 

 flower is not down wind, none will reach it at all ! 



But if an insect goes to the catkin of an alder or any 

 other male flower, it will see the red points of the stigma 

 and will very likely go there at once. This shows how 

 much more reasonable and efficient insects will be. 



The immense majority of flowers are, in fact, purple, blue, 

 red, yellow, or white, so that they are conspicuous, and stand 

 clearly out against the green of their leaves. It is well 

 known to all who have arranged flowers for the table that 

 the green of the leaves of different plants varies greatly in 

 its shade and tint. Many greens do not match special 

 flowers at all, but it is the fact that the green of any one 

 plant is always quite harmonious, and agrees well with its 

 own flowers ! 



Besides varied and beautiful colours, sweet or strong scents 

 and supplies of honey or nectar are provided for insects. 



How did flowers manage to produce all these attractions ? 

 No one has answered that question. We know in a general 

 sort of way that the parts of flowers are modified leaves, and 



1 The pollen from the great pine forests of the Italian Alps blown up 

 to the snow becomes used in nourishing the Pink or Red Snow Alga, 

 which colours it a delicate rose-pink. In lower grounds all such pollen 

 becomes, like leaf-mould, a manure for other plants. There is no waste, 

 strictly speaking. 



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