THE EVENING PRIMROSE 165 



sees one, might perch among these without a sus- 

 picion, except perhaps at the tickling of its feet 

 by the rudely touched victim. 



But these are not all the interesting features of 

 the evening primrose. It has still another curi- 

 ous secret, which has doubtless puzzled many a 

 country stroller, and which is suggested in the 

 following inquiry from a rural correspondent : 



"I read in 'Harper's Young People' your piece about the 

 evening primrose, and found the little moth and the catterpilers, 

 what I never seen before ; but they is one thing what you never 

 tole us about yit. Why is it that the buds on so meny evening 

 primroses swell up so big and never open ? Some of them has 

 holes into them, but I never seen nothing cum out." 



This same question must have been mentally 

 propounded by many observers who have noted 

 this singular peculiarity of the buds — two sorts of 

 buds, one of them long and slender, and with a 

 longer tube ; the other short and stout, with no 

 tube at all — both of which are shown in proper 

 proportion in my illustration. It is well to con- 

 trast their outward form, and to note wherein they 

 differ. In the normal or longer bud the tube is 

 slender, and extended to a length of an inch or 

 more, while in the shorter specimen this portion 

 is reduced to about a fifth or sixth of that length, 

 while the corolla enclosed within its sepals is 

 much shortened and swollen. 



The difference in the shape and development 

 of these two buds is a most interesting study, as 



