226 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
be the first part touched by an insect-visitor. Yet 
only an occasional cross can be effected by these 
tactics, for the flower appears to be <2ldom visited by 
insects, offering them no honey in spite of its bright 
hues. At the close of its day it 
secures the setting of its seeds by 
the simple expedient of partially 
closing its petals, which action 
) brings the whole of the anthers 
into contact with the stigma. It 
sunilarly closes up in_ cloudy 
weather, and this habit has gotten 
for it the name of Poor Man’s 
Weather-glass, but unless the poor 
man is well acquainted with its 
penchant for early closmg he may 
be often misled on this score. It 
Pimpernel opens at about seven o'clock in the 
morning, and closes soon after 2 p.m.; 
so that anyone with faith in its weather-indicating 
quality, yet ignorant of its business hours, who 
should refer to it about 3 p.m., when most flowers 
are open wide, would conclude that the omens were 
against fine weather. ‘There is a blue variety of the 
Pimpernel, with smaller flowers, and of more erect 
habit; but this is rare. Some authors regard it as a 
distinct species. 
The Bog Pimpernel (A. tenella) is undoubtedly 
distinct, for it differs in all its parts. It is a much 
more delicately built plant, growing on sphagnum moss 
in boggy places, and producing proportionately large 
funnel-shaped,. rosy-pink flowers with darker veins. 
It is interesting to observe how in these two species, 
