134 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



nutriment in the seed or bulb. Some of these lega- 

 cies are small, others are large ; in other words some 

 plants, just as men, carry a small life insurance, 

 others carry a large one. Most nuts, acorns, beans, 

 peas, and especially large fruits, like the cocoanut, 

 are exceedingly rich in food material, and may be 

 said to have received a large legacy from the par- 

 ent plant. On the other hand, such plants as the 

 mustards, violets, broom-rapes, poppies, verbenas, 

 phlox, orchids, and ladies'-tresses, are left with such 

 a small quantity of nutriment that their babies must 

 go to work early and develop chlorophyll in order 

 to produce food and clothing for themselves. Like 

 the child of the poor compared to the child of the 

 rich: one must work for every penny it gets, the 

 other has all its wants supplied. 



Man has various kinds of insurance policies 

 life, accident, health, and even those against old 

 age and decreptitude ; the same is true of many 

 plants. 



One of their best known methods of insurance 

 is by storing away food-material in the basement, or 

 underground bank; that is, in bulbs and roots. 

 These bulbs are not really all roots, but some parts 

 of them are buds from which new plants will spring 

 when given a suitable opportunity. Among bulb- 

 ous plants are tulips, lilies, dahlias, and many com- 



