A VERY INTELLIGENT PLANT 271 



The gorse knows the same thing, too ; and it 

 takes particular care to preserve its leaves and 

 flowers against the aggressive quadrupeds. When 

 November comes it begins to blossom. No. 7 

 shows you how cleverly and cautiously it makes its 

 preparations for this important function. The 

 flower-buds, I need hardly say, are particularly rich 

 and juicy, and, there- 

 fore, particularly 

 liable to the assaults 

 of the enemy. Hence, 

 you will observe, they 

 are doubly protected. 

 To guard against large 

 animals, each little 

 knot of buds is care- 

 fully placed, for safety, 

 in the angle formed 

 by the main stem with 

 one of its short, stout 

 branches. Stem and 

 branch alike end in 



NO. 8. THE GREAT-COAT, PROTECTING 



a forbidding prickle, THE BUDS FR ' OM CO LD AND FROM 



and the buds are so EGG-LAYING INSECTS. 

 set in the axil that 



it is simply impossible for any browsing creature 

 to get at them without encountering both these 

 serious weapons. Indeed, no illustration can fully 

 bring out the beautiful variety and complexity of 

 arrangement by which each separate group of buds 

 is completely defended ; in order to understand it 

 fully, I advise you, after reading this chapter, to go 



