44 WILD FLOWER FAMILIES 



petal-like substance of the spurs and extract the 

 nectar through the openings thus made. On hill- 

 sides where the Columbines are abundant nearly 

 all the flowers may be found so punctured late in 

 the season. But this seldom prevents the matur- 

 ing of the seed in the curious long and pointed 

 seed pods : for in case neither bees nor humming- 

 birds visit the blossoms in the legitimate manner, 

 the ovules are fertilized by the pollen from the 

 stamens of the same blossom. There are five of 

 the pods which split open when the seeds ripen ; 

 the latter are smooth and black. As the seeds 

 are maturing the stems which were arched while 

 bearing the flowers, straighten out to hold the 

 pods erect. 



This flower is often called the " honeysuckle," 

 on account of the nectar to be sucked through the 

 spurs when the tip is opened, but this name more 

 properly belongs to another group of plants. In 

 some regions the blossoms are also called " red 

 bells." These flowers are especial favorites of 

 the humming-birds. 



BANEBERRIES. In moist, rich woods the White 

 Baneberry is one of the most characteristic plants 

 of the latter part of spring. The smooth, robust, 

 leafless stalk rises from the ground eight or ten 

 inches before it sends out the one large, doubly 

 compound leaf with the margin of its many leaf- 

 lets cut into numerous serrate lobes, each of which 



