2IO The Golden Rule for Flowers 



ties to allow for the unavoidable waste. It is carried 

 far and wide, and the air is often filled with it, espe- 

 cially in the neighbourhood of forests. Masses of pine- 

 pollen are often found in America as much as three or 

 four hundred miles away from any trees which could 

 have produced it. Of course, where plants are depen- 

 dent upon the wind for pollen, they are liable to have a 

 great variety of it brought to them ; but this does not 

 hurt them, for unless the right kind comes it simply 

 has no effect whatever. But as it is of great import- 

 ance to these plants not to miss any chance of the 

 right pollen, and as the wind blows at all times, night 

 and day, they never close, many being unable to do so 

 from want of petals, so that they are always ready to 

 receive it. 



Among the trees which are fertilized at least in part 

 by the wind are the palms, whose blossoms are small 

 and dull-looking, and enclosed — thousands of them 

 together — in a sheath, something like that of the 

 arum. But some of the palms are very strongly 

 scented, and when the sheath opens it is a centre of 

 attraction to a buzzing cloud of flies, small beetles and 

 other insects. 



The date-palm bears ovules and pollen on separate 

 trees ; and when date stones are planted it is found 

 that instead of coming up half of one sort and half of 

 the other, there are more of the fruit-bearing than of 

 the unfruitful trees among them. 



However, one pollen-bearing tree is well able to 

 supply more than one ovule-bearing tree, and in their 

 wild state the trees have no difficulty in obtaining all 

 that they want. But when they are cultivated then 



