SOME SPRING FLOWERS 



more truly hooks, serve at least two purposes ; they 

 defend the plant against enemies and help it in climbing. 

 This Nemophila has very little woody tissue, but by hook- 

 ing itself, by leaf, stem, or calyx, to any convenient sup- 

 port, it gets up into light and air, and is able to display its 

 flowers to the insect world. I have seen Nemophilas that, 

 as early as February, had climbed to the top of a high fence, 

 and were looking over for something else to grasp. The flowers 

 know well how to secure insect help. At the base of each 

 flower are ten tiny saucers that hold the honey ; these 

 saucers fit together in pairs, forming five little hollow balls; 

 so the honey is protected from dust, wind and rain, and is 

 reserved for large insects, since small ones could not open 

 the balls. The anthers face upward as they shed their 

 pollen, so guests are sure to carry some away ; later on, 

 the two stigmas are held up where they are sure to be struck. 

 The Phacelias belong to the same family as the Nemo- 

 philas, and a very vigorous branch they are ! There are 

 many kinds of Phacelias ; the flowers vary much in size and 

 in color and form, but they always grow in clusters that 

 last a long time, and coil at the ends like a scorpion's tail ; 

 the botanists call this form of cluster " scorpioid." Pha- 

 celias are usually rough or sticky, and know well how to 

 defend themselves. No. 3, Fig. 45, is Phacelia tanaceti folia, 

 a common, wayside weed in some places in California. Its 

 flowers, like those of the Nemophila, have ten scales on the 

 corolla tube, but the scales are not at the very bottom, and 

 instead of being saucers to hold the honey, they fit closely 

 together, forming a floor, or false bottom, a little way above 

 the real base of the flower. The honey is at the very base, 

 and the plates above fit so closely that only a strong slender 

 tongue can get it. So this Phacelia keeps its honey for the 

 larger and more useful guests ; the bees know this very 

 well, and come in_throngs, carrying pollen from younger 

 flowers and rubbing it on the stigmas of older ones. 



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