PLANT INTELLIGENCE 
stock, inbreeding either between flowers of the 
same plant or even between the organs of a 
single bi-sexual flower is often practiced. In 
the love-making of the Grass of Parnassus and 
the Love in the Mist (Nigella), we have a 
very pretty and intelligent act. The flowers are 
unisexual and, as the females usually grow on 
much longer stalks than the males, the latter 
would not have much chance of showering 
their pollen on their consorts, if it were not for 
the fact that, at the proper season, without out- 
side stimulation, the “tall females bend down 
to their dwarf husbands.” This surely is as in- 
telligent and conscious as the mating of 
animals. 
The carnivorous plants act with uncanny 
wisdom. The insect-devouring Sundews pay no 
attention to pebbles, bits of metal, or other for- 
eign substances placed on their leaves, but are 
quick enough to sense the nourishment to be 
derived from a piece of meat. Laboratory spe- 
cimens have been observed to actually reach out 
toward Flies pinned on cards near them. So 
highstrung are these sensitive organisms that 
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