330 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



set on slantwise. When the sharp point of the 

 cone is touched, however gently, it pierces the 

 skin. Then the disk breaks off, and the poison 

 which is in the cells at the base of the sting is 

 pressed up through the hollow cone and into the 

 wound. If a browsing cow thrusts her tender nos- 

 trils into a nettle-clump the points pierce her skin, 

 the poison enters her veins, and she receives a 

 sharp warning to let nettles alone in future. 



We have several varieties of nettle, all immi- 

 grants from the old world. Their flowers are m,od- 

 est little green affairs, so inconspicuous that most 

 people do not believe nettles ever bloom at all. 

 These tiny blossoms are borne on short branched 

 spikes, which grow out almost at right angles to 

 the leaf-stalks, and are often half hidden by the 

 leaves. Each spike is made up of separate green 

 blossoms, with four tiny flower-leaves apiece. 



Some of the wee flowers bear stamens only, 

 some bear pistils only, and, as a rule, both sorts of 

 flower grow on one plant, though not unfrequently 

 we come across a nettle whose blossoms are all 

 of one kind. The stamen-heads explode when 

 the bud expands, scattering the pollen, which is 

 borne from flower to flower, or from plant to plant, 

 by the wind. As the nettles have hence no need 



