PERSONALITY OF PLANTS 
In the higher plants the same process is car- 
ried out in a little more elaborate way. Of the 
two cells which unite, one is small and active, 
and is called the male or pollen cell. The other 
is larger, richer and more passive, and is the 
ovule or female cell. 
It is one of the main objects of each plant’s 
life to see that its ovules are fertilized by pol- 
len grains from some other member of the same 
species. When this is impossible, flowers are 
reduced to fertilizing themselves, but if this 
continues very long, degeneracy is very apt to re- 
sult. It is not wise to marry one’s first cousin. 
Many plants depend upon the wind to dis- 
tribute their pollen. Such species bear slight, 
inconspicuous flowers which not infrequently 
cluster together in long, pendent catkins. This 
was undoubtedly the first and original form of 
plant marriage. Though often successful, it 
is very wasteful and undependable. “The wind 
bloweth where it listeth” and loses a million 
grains of pollen for every one it lodges. 
One hazy day in the long ago, some plant 
had a brilliant idea. “There are a number 
of insects which are in the habit of paying me 
[84] 
