LIFE HISTORIES OF FAMILIAR PLANTS 



Thus the hazel gets its stigmas pollinated with- 

 out producing colours, sweets, perfumes, or any 

 other devices that will attract insects and cause 

 them to convey the fertilising pollen from bloom 

 to bloom. Of course, in spite of the vast 

 quantities of pollen produced, insect-fertilisation is 

 much the surer method, for an insect flies from 

 flower to flower as it sees them, whereas pollin- 

 ation by the wind is purely a matter of chance. 

 Probably this accounts for the fact that so many 

 of the seeds of the crimson-tipped catkins never 

 ripen. Even the catkins that do mature rarely 

 produce more than two or three seeds, although 

 they often contain nine or ten female flowers. 

 And this is the reason why we find hedge-nuts 

 singly or clustered in twos and threes, according 

 to the product of the catkin (Fig. i']^ Plate 24). 



What is the use of the crimson stigmas, if 

 colour is of no service to the catkins ? This is a 

 question that may naturally be asked. The 

 answer is that, crimson and purple browns are 

 great attractors of heat rays, and during the early 

 months of the year the weak rays of sunlight 

 have to be made much of. If the male catkins are 

 noticed before they lengthen out, they will also be 

 seen to be of a reddish-brown colour, the colour 

 being concentrated on the side that meets the sun- 

 light. Therefore, the crimson filaments of the 

 stigmas attract warmth and stimulate the pollen to 

 carry out the function of fertilisation. 



The tiny pollen grain seems almost too minute 

 to be heeded, and yet what marvels it performs 



54 



