LIZARD'S-TAIL FAMILY 



Pistil. — Of three or four carpels united at base. 

 Fruit. — Capsule separating into three or four carpels. 

 Pollinated by flies chiefly. Nectar-bearing. 



A roadway through a swamp often passes by a 

 plantation of Lizard's-Tail, and in midsummer this is all 

 in bloom forming a whitish mass above the water floor. 



The plant is semi-aquatic, growing in beds that 

 apparently are always slipping off the land into the 

 water. What color the dense terminal spike possesses 

 is entirely due to the white filaments of the stamens, 

 for the flowers are destitute of both calyx and corolla. 



When a plant gives up both calyx and corolla it is 

 clear that it offers no invitation to insects that must be 

 allured through sight. When such a plant becomes 

 distinctly fragrant, it is evident that it is not the wind 

 whose services it seeks, but insects; and it is also 

 clear that its insect guests are those who do not see 

 very well but whose sense of smell is acute. And so 

 the Lizard's-Tail has come to depend for fertilization 

 upon flies, we may say entirely, for flies can smell 

 much better than they can see. 



The curious little turn and twist of the summit of 

 the spike gives the common name to the plant. 



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