248 Floiuers and their Pcdi^^rees. 



\b 



are much more guided in their search for food by- 

 scent than by sight. These little flies carry its pollen 

 from one head to another, and so unconsciously 

 fertilise the future seeds, and give the plant a firm 

 foothold in all situations which are naturally suitable 

 for its peculiar mode of growth. 



The common marsh calla of northern Europe 

 (fig- 53) bridges over the gap between this English 

 plant and the stages below it 

 on the path of degradation. 

 Calla has by disuse quite lost 

 its petals, but it nevertheless re- 

 FiG. 53. -Single flower of tains six stameus to each flower, 



Marsh LaLa. „_„..„ j j • 1 



grouped round a smgle ovarJ^ 

 Here the close relationship to the true lilies still remains 

 quite apparent. 



Next in descending order, on the way to the 

 cuckoo-pint, we maj' take that common white lily 

 which grows so often in cottage windows, and which 

 boasts more names, Latin and English, than almost 

 an>- other plant \\hose personal acquaintance I have 

 ever had the pleasure of making. The members 

 of a Sheffield long firm themselves have seldom so 

 many aliases as this honest and unoffending flower. 

 Botanists call it Richardia Africana ; gardeners dub 

 it Calla .^ithiopica ; and the general public knows it 



