92 NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



No; the objection to stramonium, as to all 

 other wild flowers, lies in its cheapness. 

 The vacant lots are full of it, and it is 

 called a weed ; so that settles it. 



Nothing better than the jimson illus- 

 trates the necessity a plant is under of 

 blooming when you pick its wilted flowers, 

 and refuse to let it go to fruit. A plant has 

 a maternal desire for offspring, and when 

 thwarted it constantly renews its attempt 

 to make seed. The flower is simply a 

 means to an end. Its odor and color draw 

 the insect who, in his search for food, un- 

 consciously fertilizes it ; and conception 

 occurs as soon as the pollen of one flower 

 is dusted on the pistil of the next by the 

 legs or wings of the moth or bee. Some 

 plants have not vitality enough to form a 

 second crop of blossoms when the first has 

 been picked ; but others crack along all 

 summer, blooming prodigiously. Such 

 others are the petunias, geraniums, phlox, 

 pansies, and oxalis. Indeed, almost all 

 plants, except those of the rose and lily 

 tribe, will put forth a second series of 

 flowers if the first is clipped. I made 



