208 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



like form, and sunshine finds them scentless bells 

 once more, dangling in the lassitude consequent 

 upon a night of alert, and probably futile, wake- 

 fulness. 



For this yucca is brought to our gardens from 

 the South, and is accustomed to have its pollen 

 fetched and carried by subtropical night-rovers. 

 Few native nocturnal moths are able to sip 

 its sweets or transfer its pollen; and if, dur- 

 ing its brief term of beauty, a spell of cold rain 

 discourages insect-rovers, the whole creamy spire 

 of flowers may bloom and fade without setting a 

 single seed. 



But in fine, warm summer evenings they are 

 sometimes visited by the small moth which fertil- 

 izes the wild yuccas of the Georgia coast. 



The mode of procedure of this little wanderer 

 is peculiar. She is a mother moth, seeking shelter 

 and maintenance for a young family, and she has 

 no aim except the welfare of her future offspring. 



But in attending to her own affairs, she, inci- 

 dentally, takes charge of the yucca's affairs also. 

 The coming family are to be housed in the seed- 

 vessel of the plant, and nourished on its young 

 seeds. 



But the yucca's pistil and stamens are so situ- 



