MARRIAGE AMONG THE CLOVERS 



117 



theless, as you may observe in No. 12, the hairs 

 do not seriously get in the way of the bee during 

 the stage when the flowers are just fit for ferti- 

 lisation. As soon as the bee has left the plant, 

 however, something happens which is quite different 

 to the turning down of the 

 florets in Dutch clover. 

 The calyx or little cup which 

 encloses each separate 

 flower begins to swell and 

 inflate itself like a balloon 

 or bladder. In No. 13 you 

 can see the beginnings of 

 this curious process ; each 

 calyx is slightly swelling 

 round the tiny pod which it 

 encloses. In Dutch clover, 

 the pod is longer than the 

 calyx, and the plant trusts 

 for protection to the papery 

 petals or corolla. But in 

 strawberry clover, the calyx, 

 after flowering, becomes 

 very much inflated, thin, 

 and netted ; and in this 

 state it completely encloses 

 the growing pod. No. 14 



illustrates an intermediate stage in the process, 

 with a solitary old maid still unfertilised, and the 

 other flowers larger and more inflated. In No. 15 

 the inflation is complete : each little calyx has now 

 swelled out into a small balloon, enclosing its pod. 



NO. 14. STRAWBERRY CLOVER, 

 AGAIN AN OLD MAID. 



