94 VIGNETTES FROM NATURE. 



flattened corolla with four or five round- 

 edged lobes, milk-white instead of cream- 

 coloured, and measuring near an inch across, 

 instead of being hardly larger than a barley- 

 corn. Moreover, most significant of all, they 

 have no stamens, no pistil, and no ovary con- 

 taining an embryo fruit. They are barren 

 blossoms, without any other object in life 

 than that of bare display. What, then, is the 

 good of them ? 



Well, their purpose is, no doubt, to add 

 extra attractiveness to the bunches of which 

 they form part. All plants that depend upon 

 insects for their fertilisation are compelled to 

 make a great show in order to lure the insects 

 into paying them proper attention. In the 

 guelder rose a few outer flowers of each 

 bunch are sacrificed to this particular purpose. 

 They are specialised for the function of 

 attraction, as the philosophical botanists 

 would say. This is, indeed, a phenomenon 

 which occurs often enough in many plants, 

 though in few so conspicuously as in the 



