IV 



PLANTS THAT MIMIC 



FOR many years botanists have observed the 

 striking resemblance between certain harm- 

 less unprotected plants and others which are well 

 armed by nature to defend themselves; not only 

 do plants imitate each other, but frequently they 

 imitate many kinds of poisonous insects, moths, 

 beetles, lizards, and even rattlesnakes. Certain 

 plants actually imitate bad odours, carrion of all 

 kinds, obnoxious weeds, and various forms and 

 kinds of things which they are not, from disagree- 

 able animals to harmless pebbles. These mimetic 

 resemblances are, in most instances, so striking as 

 to defy all explanation, and they occur only be- 

 tween two species of animals or plants which are 

 found in the same region, of which one species is 

 thoroughly protected and the other is not. Why 

 does nature trouble herself with all of these curious 

 external resemblances? It is comprehended only 

 in the light of mimicry, and under the theory that 

 unprotected plants mimic dangerous or obnoxious 



