324 GLIMPSES INTO PLANT-LIFE 



would be ! When, however, they are grouped side 

 by side in the centre, and further, when the outer 

 florets are of a different colour and shape, what a 

 beautiful and s)'mmetrical whole they make ! Truly 

 this is another rendering of the maxim, Union is 

 strength. From a different point of view the 

 arrangement is equally interesting. The white and 

 pink tipped florets of the ray are not capable of 

 bearing seed, and yet we see how they help those 

 florets that are perfect by their attractive appear- 

 ance ; then at night or on a cold rainy day these 

 same ray florets bend over and completely cover up 

 the florets in the centre which are busy producing 

 seed. My readers will find a rich field of investiga- 

 tion open before them in studying the flowers of the 

 daisy family, and finding out for themselves how 

 the florets are grouped together, and to ^^■hat extent 

 this principle of co-operation can be traced.' 



Students will find the corn blue-bottle especially 



' A single flower of the Heracleum giganteuni would not be 

 specially noticeable, but when hundreds of them are grouped toge- 

 ther in a huge umbelliferous head they form a most striking object, 

 as may be seen in the plate. I have often watched the swarms of 

 flies, beetles, and bees visiting these attractive blossoms on sunny 

 days, and the great umbels of seed in autumn showed how effectually 

 the insects had carried out their work of fertilisation. 



