SOME TUBULAR FLOWERS 



33 



ish names, as the history of the State is bound up 

 with them. The species of Gilia used in illustration 

 is dichotorna, which means "two-forked," from the 

 way in which the flower stems branch out on either 

 side of the stalk. 



The Silene makes a very positive objection to 

 fee(|ig^;; insects who do not return services. She 

 early learned that ants were very skillful in extract- 

 ing sweets without paying toll, so she reconstructed 

 her plant from the ground up to impede their 

 climbs to her blossoms. She developed her nodes 

 into comparative mountains, and covered herself 

 with soft hairs. When 

 that did not daunt 

 them, she evolved 

 glands that would se- 

 crete a bitter, sticky 

 substance and deposit it 

 all along the stems and 

 leaves. Now, woe to 

 that ant that attempts 

 to mount a Silene. It is 

 as difficult as for a hu- 

 man being to loosen 

 himself from the quick- 

 sands. Even with this 

 safeguard, Silene 

 was not satisfied that her seed-making parts were 



SILENE 



