CHAPTER VIII 
THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HERB ROBERT: 
ITS FLOWERS AND SEEDS 
N the last chapter we were concerned as in 
Chapters II. and III. with the life and preserva- 
tion of the individual, and we now come to the flowers, 
whose duty it is to preserve and perpetuate the race. 
They, of course, have to be protected from the 
fury of the elements and dangers of other kinds, and 
the Herb Robert gives us a very pretty and happy 
example of one of those happenings in the vegetable 
world which are often but erroneously spoken of as 
sleep, and which, as I have said, are in reality pro- 
tective. 
The blossom rarely lasts for more than forty-eight 
hours. It opens in the early morning, sometimes the 
petals fall the same evening, but sometimes not until 
the next day; it is very rarely that they survive the 
second night. 
I think it depends upon the weather; if the day 
is one of hot sunshine the whole of the business of the 
petals, which is, of course, to attract pollinating 
insects, will be done by nightfall, but if on the other 
hand it is cool and cloudy and the visitors do not come, 
more time will be required. 
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