SOME TUBULAR FLOWERS 35 



it away to the next flower. After the ovules are 

 fertilized, the petals fall away, but the tough calyx 

 persists as a protection to the maturing seeds. 



The common name of the Silene, Catch-Fly, is 

 readily recognized as appropriate, and so is its 

 other popular name, Campion, which means "Field 

 Flower." Sometimes it is called Wild Pink, be- 

 cause it belongs to the world-wide family of Pinks, 

 the Caryophylleae. Silene, the older botanists 

 say, comes from Silenus, the Satyr in Greek mythol- 

 ogy, who was the constant companion of Bacchus, 

 probably because these revelers laid plans to catch 

 the weak through their appetites; but Professor 

 Jepson gives the derivation of the name from sialon, 

 the Greek for "saliva," referring to its viscidity. 

 Verecunda, the name of the species here shown, 

 means "modest," and well describes its unobtrusive- 

 ness. 



The Wild Currant, which roams California from 

 the seaside to the high Sierras, arranges its floral 

 envelope in a tube with the tops spread out. At the 

 Coast, this shrub sends out its blossom after the 

 first rains, so that usually one can gather a great 

 bunch before Thanksgiving. The individual flower, 

 if taken away from its group cluster, looks very 

 much like the individual blossom of the Trailing 

 Arbutus or Mayflower of the East that delicate 

 beauty which always arouses the enthusiasm of the 



