108 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



bean. There is the roof or hood, and there are the 

 two wings ; but in this case the wings hang down to 

 form the landing-platform, as in the drawing. And 

 there, too, is the boat, but curved upward like a 

 horn whose tip reaches into the tip of the hood and 

 is held there, gently but securely, till a visitor ar- 

 rives. No stamens or pistils are visible. But let 

 a bee arrive and begin his rummaging for nectar. 

 The little horn is displaced, its tip escapes and splits 

 apart, the enclosed pistil and the stamens push for- 

 ward, and out comes a charge of pollen, where it 

 will reach the bee and dust him over. 



We can play the bee and set the mechanism in 

 motion by means of a pin, and we will find keen 

 delight in watching the little horns of plenty in- 

 variably discharge their golden store. When 

 stamens and pistils have once forced their way out 

 of the horn they do not return again, and if they 

 are visible in a flower we know they have already 

 been released by the visit of a bee. 



Several of the Desmodiums are more impetuous 

 in their giving. 



TICK TREFOIL Desmodium nudiflorum 

 July-August 



This and the Canadian species of the same genus 

 hold their pollen so tightly compressed in their 



