The Fascination of Flowers [ 325 



"Do You Like Butter?": The bright yellow color of the buttercup 

 gives it a shiny finish which in bright sunlight quite easily reflects 

 on another surface. That is why the answer is nearly always posi- 

 tive when a child follows the old custom of holding a buttercup 

 under a playmate's chin to see if he "likes butter." (If yellow is 

 reflected on the chin, the answer is "yes.") Outside the reflecting 

 petals are five sepals, about half the length of the petals and pale 

 yellow with brownish tips. 



There are many different kinds of buttercups; the common one 

 of fields and meadows is properly called the tall buttercup. It may 

 grow as tall as three feet! Though you are likely to find buttercups 

 as early as May, they bloom through August and sometimes until 

 frost appears. 



LUCKY CLOVER 



Among our most popular superstitions is the one that 

 promises good luck to the finder of a four-leaf clover. It is a fact, 

 however, that the clover plant is good fortune for all of us. 



25,000 to the Inch: In addition to being a valuable food crop for 

 horses and cattle, clover has an almost magical way of bringing 

 fertility to the soil. The secret of this power lies in the little 

 swellings sometimes called root tubercles or nodules that you 

 will find on the rootlets. Each swelling is occupied by bacteria, 

 so many that 25,000 of them, lined up, would cover only an inch 

 of space. 



These bacteria extract nitrogen, a valuable chemical fertilizer, 

 from the soil and change its form so that clover can absorb it. 

 When a crop of clover is harvested, the roots remain in the ground 

 with their precious supply of fertilizer. This is one reason why 

 farmers, in rotating their crops, plant clover every few years. 



Collecting Clovers is Fun: It is fun for a child to make a collection 

 of clovers, for there are many attractive species, including crimson, 

 red, white, rabbit-foot, buffalo, and yellow. Both leaves and blos- 

 soms can be kept for several years when pressed between pieces 

 of wax paper or cellophane. It is even possible to become an 

 expert at finding the rare four-leaf clover to add to one's collec- 



