CALIFORNIA PLANTS IN THEIR HOMES 



store food. Some lupines come up year after year, like 

 weeds, in cultivated land ; and several kinds have leaves 

 that know how to fold at night, or during dry winds. 



The flowers of all lupines grow in clusters that last for 

 weeks, sometimes for months, and they all have the same 

 clever device for pollination. Take the cluster of any large- 

 flowered lupine you can find, and examine the flowers care- 

 fully. The calyx seems to consist of two parts; really, there 

 are five sepals united in two groups. There is one very 

 large petal that stands upright and is called the banner; the 

 other four petals form a- platform for guests, and enclose 

 the stamens and pistil; the two outside petals, which are 

 called wings, usually cohere slightly at the tip; besides 

 this, they are fitted very neatly into the inner petals so that 

 they act with them; see for yourselves just how. If you 

 have one of the younger flowers, you will find the two inner 

 petals so much united that you are likely to mistake them 

 for one, but notice that at the base they are quite distinct, 

 and that there is also a tiny opening at the very tip; these 

 partially united petals are supposed to resemble the bottom 

 of a boat and are called the keel. Snugly tucked away in 

 the keel are the ten stamens, and within their united fila- 

 ments is the pistil, the style and stigma projecting slightly 

 beyond. To understand all about the stamens you need to 

 begin with the bud; you will find that the five higher, 

 longer anthers shed their pollen in the keel before the ban- 

 ner rises, while the other five, by means of their thickened 

 filaments, hold the shed pollen firmly in place in the 

 tip of the keel. 



Now, when a bee comes to call on a lupine, he is sure 

 to alight on the lower petals ; imitate with your pencil his 

 weight on this part of the flower, and see what happens ; 

 there is always a little jet of pollen forced out. You can 

 think how the lupine does this. The pollen has been 

 packed away in the tip of the keel and held there by the 



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