CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VII 



LABURNUM {Cytisus laburnum), BROOM {Sarothamnus 

 scoMrius), AND GORSE (Ulex europ<Btis) 



Laburnum and Red Hawthorn— The Broom's Blaze of Golden 

 Yellow — Leaves of Laburnum, Broom, and Gorse— 

 Leaves Characteristic of the Pea-flower Family and their 

 Modifications— Their Arrangement in the Laburnum- 

 Change in Position of Flowering Stem— The FoUage of the 

 Broom — Starving off its Enemies— Broom Flowers- 

 Divergence from the Ancestral Type — The Gorse and its 

 Thorny Foliage — Young Shoots used as Fodder — Existing 

 Proof that the Gorse once had Trefoil Leaves — The 

 Young Plant Records in miniature the whole Evolution of 

 its Species— Perfect Bayonet Protection — Branches carry 

 on Leaf- functions— The Unceasing Warfare between 

 Plants and Animals 84—96 



CHAPTER VIII 



SOME STRANGE GREENHOUSE PLANTS 



Variety in Plant Forms — Species that Puzzle our Understand- 

 ing — Cactus Family — " Vegetable Camels " — Dangersjfrom 

 Animal Attacks— Unassailable Protection — Offshoots Dis- 

 tributed by Enemies — The Caladium — Leaves several Feet 

 in Length — Large Leaves and Open Situations — Pitcher- 

 plants— Entrapped Insects — An Original Orchid— A Topsy- 

 turvy Attitude — Throwing off Water — Torrential Rains 

 and Long Periods of Drought — Only a Moist Atmosphere 

 needed 97— 105 



CHAPTER IX 



THE COLTSFOOT {Tussilago Farfara) 



The Farmer is bent on Warfare— How the Coltsfoot made 

 the First Move— A Successful and Enterprising Weed — 

 How it came to Possess such Power — Its Credentials — 



xii 



