Cleavers. 125 



of the flower in most of the stellate tribe. The corolla 

 has got too small to find room for five lobes, so it cuts 

 the number down to four instead. This is a common 

 result of extreme dwarfing. For example, the tiny 

 central florets of the daisy ought properly to be 

 pinked out into five points, representing the five 

 primitive petals, but they often have the number 

 reduced to four. So, too, in the little moschatel, the 

 outer flowers of each bunch have five lobes, but the 

 central one, which is crowded around and closely 

 jammed by the others, has regularly lost one in every 

 case. 



There is just one more peculiarity of the goose- 

 grass blossom which I must not wholly overlook. 

 You see this rough little bulb or ball beneath the 

 corolla, covered with incipient prickles ? That is the 

 part which will finally grow into the fruit, after some 

 friendly insect has brought pollen on his legs from 

 some neighbouring flower to impregnate the ovary of 

 this. Now, what I want you to notice is the fact that 

 the future fruit here lies below the corolla— below the 

 flower, as most of us would say in ordinary language. 

 But if you think of a strawberry, a raspberry, or a 

 poppy, you will recollect that the part which is to 

 become the fruit there grows above the corolla, and 

 that the petals are inserted at its base. This last is 



