INGENUITY IN VARIATION 125 



It has no power of locomotion — no ability to 

 get about from place to place in search of pollen 

 for its eggs or of eggs in need of its pollen; nor 

 has its neighbor, so they call in an outside mes- 

 senger of reproduction — the bee. 



The dianthus secretes its honey at the base of 

 its blossom. It places movable packages of pol- 

 len dust balanced on springy stamens in such a 

 way that, to reach the sweets, the pollen hedge 

 must be broken through. It keeps its egg cham- 

 ber closed and its pistil unreceptive while the 

 pollen dust is there, and, as if to advertise its 

 hidden sweets to the nectar-loving bees, it throws 

 out shapely petals of many brilliant hues and 

 exudes a charming fragrance. 



And thus the bees, attracted from afar, crowd- 

 ing into the tiny wells to get their food, become 

 besmeared ^vith pollen dust as they enter a pollen- 

 bearing bloom — and leave a load of pollen 

 dust wherever they later brush some receptive 

 stigma. 



Why did the dianthus gets its color? 



For the bees. 



Just as the cactus covered itself with spines 

 until it had built up an effective armor, in the 

 same way the dianthus, by easy stages, has 

 worked out a color scheme to attract the bees 

 upon which it depends to effect its reproduction. 



