THE MILKWEED 229 



taries must both tempt and reward his coining, 

 and its petals assist his comfortable tarrying. 



Next to the floral orchids, the mechanism of 

 our milkweed blossom is perhaps the most com- 

 plex and remarkable, and illustrates as perfectly 

 as any of the orchid examples given in Darwin's 

 noble work the absolute divine intention of the 

 dependence of a plant species upon the visits of 

 an insect. 



Our milkweed flower is a. deeply planned con- 

 trivance to insure such an end. It fills the air 

 with enticing fragrance. Its nectaries are stored 

 with sweets, and I fancy each opening bud keenly 

 alert with conscious solicitude for its affinity. 

 Though many other flowers manage imperfectly 

 to perpetuate their kind in the default of insect 

 intervention, the milkweed, like most of the or- 

 chids, is helpless and incapable of such resource. 

 Inclose this budded umbel in tarlatan gauze and 

 it will bloom days after its fellow -blooms have 

 fallen, anticipating its consummation, but no pods 

 will be seen upon this cluster. 



What a singular decree has Nature declared 

 with reference to the milkweed ! She says, in 

 plainest terms, " Your pollen must be removed on 

 the leg of an insect, preferably a bee, or your kind 

 shall perish from the face of the earth." And 



