THE ASSERTIVE PLANT 13 



the pale yellow flowers dies, the plant enters a 

 critical period of its life ; it is in grave danger of 

 being smothered out of existence. At this time, 

 however, a very marked change comes over the 

 bearing of the foliage ; the leaves lose their more 

 or less erect habit and " flop " over on to the 

 ground, encircling the crown of the plant. In 

 this way, the menacing army of seedlings which 

 will come with the end of May are prevented from 

 making any headway in close proximity to the 

 plant. If it were not for this provision there can 

 be little doubt that the Primrose would be almost 

 choked by the rank-growing weeds which are on 

 every side. Many of the late spring-blooming 

 varieties of the smaller Hyacinths send out a pro- 

 fusion of drooping leaves just at flowering time. 

 These will make it quite certain that the plants 

 will not be troubled by any near neighbour. 



In the case of a large number of common 

 weeds the habit of growth, which has been referred 

 to as " starring/ ' is a very pronounced feature. 

 As is well known, the matter of leaf arrangement 

 in the plant has been devised on definite lines, 

 and with a mathematical precision. Each leaf 

 has its exact place, and when development is 

 unhindered by any restraining influence the 

 exactitude of the system becomes very apparent. 



