THE HOODED VIOLET. 



95 



pods and no runners, by means of which the 

 plants could renew themselves. One sultry 

 August day I wandered to this shady nook, 

 haK forgetful of the violets that bloomed 

 there in the springtime. I could scarcely 

 recognize the numerous great leaves raised 

 on their foot-long petioles as the full-grown 

 individuals of which I had seen the earlier 

 stages, overtopped by the flowers, in May. 

 A careless scuff among the leaves disclosed 

 a number of peculiar whitish buds on curved 

 peduncles an inch long and half buried in 

 the dead leaves and the grass. (Fig. 74.) 

 A dissection of one of the buds revealed a 

 miniature flower, bearing 

 no petals, to be sure, but 

 furnished with a good 

 stigma and well - devel- 

 oped anthers. I had 

 abundant proof that these 

 flowers produced seeds, 

 for there were many fully 

 developed pods lying un- 

 der and upon the mould, 

 was a mystery. How was it possible for 

 cross-fertilization to be effected between 

 these hidden, inconspicuous, unopened flow- 

 ers? There was but one conclusion : these 



Fig. 74. 



Here, indeed. 



