90 AS CALIFORNIA FLOWERS GROW 



schoolboy who has drawn a pentagon will guess that 

 "pentstemon" means "five stamens." Well, that is 

 what the word does mean; but look in the blossom 

 and count the stamens bearing anthers on their tops. 

 You see there are but four. 



In the ancient days, long before this genus was 



named, the flower prob- 

 ably did have five sta- 

 mens; but it evidently 

 concluded that four 

 with good healthy an- 

 thers could work to bet- 

 ter advantage than five 

 in the crowded quarters 

 of its throat. So it is 

 transforming that fifth 

 stamen into something 

 else something more 

 beautiful and quite as 

 useful. The plant, for 

 all its artistic taste in 

 form and texture and 

 color, has a very practical trait. It will not endure 

 a useless part. If there be no work for an organ, 

 it evolves it into something that can do work or 

 else it devolves it out of existence. Examine the 

 throat of the Pentstemon. The four regular stamens 

 bend a little at their base, but stand up straight as 



PENTSTEMON 



