COLORS OF NORTH AMERICAN FLOWERS 



often recapitulated by individual flowers; white corollas chang- 

 ing to red, as in the sweet-william, or to yellow, as in the climb- 

 ing honeysuckle, or from yellow to red, as in lantana and the 

 flowering currant (Ribes aureum), or from red to blue, as in the 

 forget-me-not (Myosotis versicolor). 



Let us next inquire how many of these -1,020 flowers found 

 in northeastern America are pollinated by the wind and how 

 many by insects. Among the wind-pollinated plants are the 

 grasses, sedges, and rushes; many homely weeds like the pig- 

 weeds, sorrels, nettles, and ragweeds, as well as many decidu- 

 ous-leaved bushes and trees, as the alders, poplars, elms, 

 beeches, and birches. After a careful examination of every 

 genus I place the number of wind-pollinated plants (including 

 a few pollinated by water) at about 1,046. This number is, 

 perhaps, a little too large, for in the case of some Western 

 species there are no recorded observations and they may be 

 self-pollinated. Still it cannot be far from correct, since the 

 grasses and sedges alone in this area include 705 species, the 

 rushes 47, the pondweeds (including 8 water-flowers) 42, the 

 deciduous-leaved trees and shrubs 71, the chenopods and ama- 

 ranths 54, and 36 species in the Compositce. 



Wind-pollinated plants have usually small and inconspicu- 

 ous flowers which are green or dull-colored, and which flower 

 and fruit entirely unnoticed. It would be of no advantage to 

 them to produce bright colors or sweet odors, for the wind 

 bloweth where it listeth regardless of all such attractions. The 

 birches, however, have golden and greenish-yellow aments, and 

 the blossoms of the elm are purplish. The glumes of grasses 

 and the perianths of rushes are also often purplish or reddish. 

 So conspicuous are the flowers of some rushes that they attract 

 a few insects. The sorrels may have the entire plant red- 

 colored, and butterflies may seek nectar in the flowers. The 



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