THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



round and smooth, while the stigmas are lobed or feathery to 

 present as large a receptive surface as possible. They flourish 

 in a great variety of situations and all present interesting 

 phenomena worthy of careful observation. The Roman worm- 

 wood (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) blooms in the fall and is com- 

 mon everywhere in old fields and waste land. (Fig. 14.) The 

 air is filled with the yellow pollen, which is believed to be pro- 

 ductive of hay-fever. The plantains are midway between wind- 

 pollination and insect-pollination. (Fig. 15.) The pleasant 

 odor and nectar attract insects, but the smooth pollen-grains 

 are likewise carried by the wind. The elastic stamens of the 

 stinging nettles are in the bud, doubled back upon themselves 

 and held under tension. When the flowers expand the fila- 

 ments suddenly straighten and little puffs of pollen are forcibly 

 projected into the air, appearing like minute explosions. 



THE EVERGREEN OR CONE TREES 



"Red-cedars blossom tu, though few folks know it. 

 An' look all dipt in sunshine like a poet." — Lowell. 



Vast forests of evergreen or coniferous trees, covering mil- 

 lions of acres, are found throughout the north temperate zone 

 of both the Old and New Worlds. Large portions of Canada 

 are densely forested with white pine and black spruce ; in Siberia 

 there are great tracts of pine, cedar, and larch; in Russia of 

 Scotch fir, spruce, and Siberian larch; and along the southern 

 shore of the Baltic of fir and Norway spruce. The aspect 

 within these northern forests of conifers is dark and cold ; there 

 is little underbrush and the groinid is bare or carpeted with 

 mosses and lichens — "a solitude made more intense by dreary- 

 voiced elements." Unlike the forests of the tropics, all kinds 

 of animal life are scarce, and no bright-colored birds, butter- 

 flies, or flowers light up these sombre solitudes. 



38 



