154 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
the presence of a feline animal in large numbers in a 
district might determine, through the intervention 
first of mice and then of bees, the frequency of certain 
flowers in that district !” 
The Dutch or White Clover is fertilised by hive- 
bees, but further experiments have shown that if 
they are excluded the plant is not absolutely infertile, 
though it sets very few seeds; this indicates that 
/ 
ist stage Fertilised flowers turned down All fertilised 
White Clover 
individuals exhibit a tendency to revert to  self- 
fertilisation. The flowers are clustered in heads on 
a common stalk which is four or five inches high, 
but every separate flower has also its own little foot- 
stalk of which it makes important use. At first all 
the flowers stand erect, and the outer or lower ones 
of the cluster mature before the upper or inner 
