76 SAGACITY AND MORALITY OF PLANTS. 



have to catch the stray pollen-grains carried by the 

 wind, it is evident that some net-like or feathery 

 shape would be best suited for such a purpose. 

 Some modifications of these patterns we accordingly 

 find — pistils, plumose or feathery, tufted, fimbriated, 

 etc., — always a specialised organ, admirably adapted 

 to catch straggling pollen -grains. And as these 

 feathery or tufted parts are glutinous, there is little 

 chance of the pollen-grain being blown away again, 

 when once entangled in the living mesh. There it 

 remains and sprouts, and the world gets its " daily 

 bread " by means which at first sight appear purely 

 accidental. 



The extremer forms of wind-fertilised and insect- 

 fertilised flowers have been separated so widely, and 

 their differences are so extreme, that even the shapes 

 and structures of their pollen -grains are different; 

 and it is not a difficult matter to tell, from the 

 microscopical examination of a single unknown 

 pollen -grain, whether it has been produced by an 

 inconspicuous or a conspicuously-coloured and per- 

 fumed flower. In the wind -fertilised flowers the 

 pollen is generally produced in great abundance, 

 and it is always very light, so that the wind can 

 easily blow it about. Usually their pollen -grains 

 are many-sided, so that more than one surface can 

 be presented to the wind. The pollen-grains yielded 

 by highly-developed insect-fertilised flowers, on the 

 other hand, are usually roundish and oval, and fre- 



