CHAPTER III 



PERFECT FLOWERS 



LANTS bearing perfect flowers 

 are far more numerous than 

 those bearing pistillate and stam- 

 inate ones. We must, there- 

 fore, conclude that it is a much 

 better arrangement to have 

 stamens and pistils grow in the 

 same blossom. The most evi- 

 dent advantage is that of economy: 

 it brings about great saving of the 

 precious pollen, there are no sterile 

 flowers, and the time of the busy 

 bee is not wasted. 



There was a time when wind and 

 water were the great "common car- 

 riers" of the pollen, and the work 

 was so well done that plants grew 

 and throve. But better means of 

 transport came into existence. In- 



33 



