A VERY INTELLIGENT PLANT 273 



keeps off insects so well as hairs ; they form to 

 these little creeping creatures an impenetrable 

 thicket, like tropical jungle to an invading army. 

 Ants, you will remember, cannot creep up stems 

 which are thickly set with hairs ; and in warm 

 climates, people take advantage of this peculiarity 

 by wrapping fur round the legs of meat-safes, 

 so as to keep off those indefatigable pests of the 

 equatorial housekeeper. 



Nor is this the only use of the short brown 

 hairs. I spoke of the calyx above as a great-coat, 

 for warmth is really one of its chief objects. It 

 keeps off the cold as well as the insects. You must 

 remember that the greater gorse is a winter-flower- 

 ing plant : it lays itself out to attract the few stray 

 bees which flit out in search of food on sunny 

 mornings in December and January. A bush with 

 this habit needs protection for its buds from the 

 cold: just as you see the crocus does, when it 

 wraps up its flowers in a papery spathe, and as the 

 willow does when it encloses its catkins in soft, 

 silky coverings. The hairy coat of the gorse-bud 

 has just the same function : it is there for warmth 

 as well as for protection against egg-laying insects. 

 That, I think, is the reason why the hairs are 

 coloured brown ; because brown is a good absorber 

 of heat ; the fur collects and retains whatever 

 warmth it can get from the winter sun in his 

 friendlier moments. 



You will further observe in the illustrations, and 

 still better on the living gorse-bush, that all the 

 buds are not at the same stage of development 



s 



