EN DOG ENS OR MONOCOTYLEDONS 



You will discover that the stamens and pistil are like petals 

 and are scarlet also, and that the flower can get along 

 with one one-celled anther. Can you guess from the color 

 what carries the pollen ? You probably would not have to 

 watch long to see the flowers visited by the most desirable 

 of all guests. 



The orchid group is one of the highest, and perhaps 

 quite the most interesting, of endogens ; but the orchid 

 family, although a very large one, does not find the Cali- 

 fornia climate congenial, and we have very few varieties. 

 Perhaps you have seen orchids in greenhouses or in florists' 

 windows, or you may have heard or read about them ; of 

 how they sometimes grow among the tree tops of dense 

 forests, or of the curious forms of the flowers. Darwin 

 wrote an entire book about orchids, and it contains many 

 wonderful stories. There are orchids that trap their insect 

 guests and make them carry pollen in order to escape ; 

 there is one kind that actually hurls masses of pollen at 

 bumble-bees' backs, where they stick until left on the 

 stigma of another flower ; another kind fastens bags of 

 pollen on its guests' eyes. This last kind is not rare in 

 California, though its flowers are not so large as those 

 of the English species that Darwin writes about. It is an 

 interesting plant, and will amply repay any one who 

 has the patience and time to study it. 



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