HOW FLOWEKS CLUB TOGETHER. 147 



flower is occasionally cross-fertilised by insect 

 visits ; but if no insect turns up in time, the 

 stamens, even in handsome and attractive 

 blossoms, often bend round and impregnate the 

 pistil. A very good example of this is seen in * 

 our smaller English mallow, which has large 

 mauve flowers to attract insects ; but should 

 none come to visit it, the stamens and stigmas 

 at last intertwine, and self -fertilisation takes 

 place, for want of better. Still, as a general 

 rule, it holds good that self-fertilisation belongs 

 to scrubby and degraded plants ; it is only 

 adopted as a last resort when all other means 

 fail by the superior species. 



CHAPTEE X. 



HOW FLOWERS CLUB TOGETHER. 



IN the preceding chapters I have dealt for the 

 most part with individual flowers ; I have 

 spoken of them separately, and of the work 

 they do in getting the seeds set. Incidentally, 

 however, it has been necessary at times to 

 touch slightly upon the way they often mass 

 themselves into heads or clusters for various 

 purposes ; and we must now begin to consider 

 more seriously the origin and nature of these 

 co-operative societies. 



Very large flowers, like the water-lily, the 

 tulip, the magnolia, the daffodil, are usually 

 solitary ; they suffice by themselves to attract 

 in sufficient numbers the fertilising insects. 



