296 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



a-quiver with cilia, and spinning around as if in- 

 stinct with conscious life. And two Japanese 

 botanists have found spermatozoids in the pollen- 

 tubes of two other cousins of the pines, the grace- 

 ful cycad and the gingko-tree. 



Once it was thought that a great gulf was fixed 

 between the flowerless and the flowering plants. 

 But further study has shown that this gulf is 

 bridged, and that the two piers which support the 

 bridge are the Lycopodineae (club-mosses and selag- 

 inellas) and the gymnosperms. 



After the pollen of a cone-bearer has found its 

 way to the ovule the carpels close over and pro- 

 tect the developing seed. Those of the red cedars 

 and junipers become succulent, and unite so as to 

 form a globe with the seed inside. Those of the 

 pine, spruce, hemlock, fir, and larch alter still 

 more. The ovule of any of these trees is fastened 

 to a little protruding disk in the carpel-wall (Fig. 

 83). After the ovule has been quickened this 

 disk begins to develop surprisingly on its own 

 account. It expands at top and sides, and soon 

 completely outgrows the carpel to which it was 

 once but an humble annex. So the carpel event- 

 ually loses its individuality and becomes two 

 scales. The uppermost of these is the developed 



