THE CLOVER BLOOMS. 81 



their scent too. As soon as the white kind has been fer- 

 tilized, however, it turns down its head toward the 

 ground, so as to save the swelling pods from the hungry 

 sheep. At the same time the stem lengthens, and a 

 very curious change begins to take place in the head. If 

 you look close into the flowering branches, you will see 

 a small green knob in the centre, between the three 

 florets. This knob really consists of the other undevel- 

 oped blossoms which once formed the head, for it ought 

 by descent to have at least ten or twelve instead of three. 

 After the pods begin to set, and the stem to turn down- 

 ward, these undeveloped blossoms grow out into short 

 thick fibres, each five-fingered at the tip, as a reminis- 

 cence of the five lobes which once went to make up the 

 original calyx. As the stem lengthens, the fingers push 

 their way slowly into the loose earth with a screw-like 

 action, and at last make a hole for the three pods, which 

 have already turned back on their stalks, so as to offer as 

 little resistance as possible to the soil. Thus the plant 

 actually buries its own seeds out of the way of all depre- 

 dators ; and there they ripen and lie securely till next 

 spring's rain quickens them afresh. In this way alone 

 could the subterranean clover for that is its name sur- 

 vive with safety in its shallow closely cropped pasture 

 grounds. Yet how wonderful the action of natural 

 selection here makes the plant simulate intelligence and 

 volition. More than half the flowers have been altered 

 into barren fibres to act as picks or augers in the earth ; 

 and the stem has acquired the habit of turning up, and 

 then turning down : all for the sake of burying the three 

 remaining fertile blossoms in the soil, and securing the 

 safety of their few seeds. Indeed, it is often easiest to 

 formulate the whole series of changes to oneself in such 

 terms as one would naturally apply to a conscious and 



