CO-OPERATION. 167 



will be few — when they are small they are generally 

 numerous in proportion to their smallness. 



In no order is this better seen than in the Legu- 

 minoscB. Compare the solitary flowers of the lovely 

 Grass pea {Lathynis nissolid) with the minute but 

 similarly constructed flowers collected to form the 

 " heads " of the Clovers and the Trefoils. No flowers 

 are perhaps more specialised to the visits of the 

 most intelligent of insects than those of Clover, but 

 what would they be if they grew singly ? Co-opera- 

 tion has been the secret of their success ; as indeed 

 it is of innumerable species in other orders of plants 

 where the same plan has been adopted. 



The UmbellifercB, DipsacccB, and Composites have 

 carried out this idea with the completest success, and 

 with certain modifications of a most suggestive 

 character ; some of the members of their floral col- 

 onies being altered for the benefit of the community. 

 This alteration has been carried to the extreme 

 point of even sacrificing the individualities of some 

 members for the wellbeing of the rest ! Such an 

 arrangement is by no means limited to the above- 

 mentioned orders, even in our British flora. Thus 

 that of the Honeysuckles {Caprifoliacece) has a con- 

 siderable latitude of variation. The large flowers of 

 the common Honeysuckle are usually grouped to the 

 number of about half a dozen on the flower-head ; 

 whilst the smaller individuals in the Elder {Sarnbiicits 

 nigra), Wayfaring Tree ( Vibtirnum lantand), and 



