CONTENTS 



PAGBS 



Overcoming the Soil Difficulties— A Peep at the Under- 

 ground Stem— Its Methods of Meeting the Farmer's 

 Attacks— Scaly Flowering Stems — The Flower-heads— 

 Ovary Losing Power of Maturing its Seed — Cross-fertilisa- 

 tion— Guarding the Pollen — Fluffy Heads of Seeds in 

 March and April— A Modified Calyx— On the Newly- 

 made Railway Cutting— The Matter of Leaves— The 

 Building Process — Monopolising Sunlight — Function of 

 the Woolly Hairs — The Farmer Again — Defiance . . 106—117 



CHAPTER X 



THE CATKLNTS OF THE WILLOW 



{Salix Caprea) 



The Sallow or " Palm " of the Country People — Willow-blooms 

 and Easter Religious Ceremonies — British Willows — 

 Golden or Yellow "Palm"— The Catkins— A Male 

 Flower — Silver "Palm" — A Female Flower — Male and 

 Female Catkins growing apart on Distinct Trees — Insects 

 and the Catkins— Wind- and Insect-fertilisation — A New 

 Nectary— The Lost Perianth— Female Flowers producing 

 Nectar — Origin of the Unisexual Flowers — Wind-fertilisa- 

 tion now Abandoned 118—126 



CHAPTER XI 



THE WILD ORCHID {Orchis maculata) 



My Orchid Garden — The Blooms — Nothing more Extraordin- 

 ary in the Plant World — Roots and Tubers— The Plant 

 Exploits New Ground — Striking and Mysterious Leaves — 

 Their Curious Brown Markings an Insoluble Problem — A 

 Suggestion — The Startled Reptile — Arrangement of the 

 Leaves — How Grazing Animals view the Plants — Neces- 

 sity of Protection for Leaves — Spotless Leaves— Plants 

 that Resemble Animals — Complex SpeciaUsation of Floral 

 Structures — An Orchid but a Modification of some Type 

 of Lily— Structural Details — The Visiting Insect and the 



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