84 TALKS AFIELD. 



Here the pollen is commonly carried by the 

 wind, occasionally by insects. Delpino has 

 called the wind-fertilized plants anemophi- 

 lous, " wind lovers." Most grasses and 

 sedges, although they may have perfect flow- 

 ers, are wind-fertilized. The flowers of ane- 

 mophilous plants are usually small and in- 

 conspicuous. They have no need of showy 

 colors. It is only necessary that they pro- 

 duce an abundance of pollen, much of which 

 must be wasted by careless winds, and pos- 

 sess a large and rough stigma to catch the 

 floating grains. The grasses afford instruct- 

 ive examples of wind-fertilized flowers. Pines 

 produce pollen in wonderful abundance, and 

 the air of pine forests is often yellow with it 

 in spring. The " sulphur showers " which 

 occur in some localities are due to the bring- 

 ing down of this pollen by the rain. Many 

 farmers find that the pollen from corn in 

 full tassel is irritating to the eyes. Every 

 one has noticed how suddenly the bright an- 

 thers are thrust out on their slender stalks 

 from the long heads of timothy and other 

 grasses ; were the flat and feathered stigmas 

 so conspicuously colored, instead of being 

 greenish-white, they would attract our atten- 

 tion as well. In Fig. 68 a grass flower en- 



