PISTILLATES AND STAMINATES 17 



larger of the two, to attract the insect to it first, in 

 order to give him a charge of pollen. It resembles 

 a little lilj^ and bears at its centre an undeveloped 

 pistil. The pistillate flower opens less widely, and 

 therefore resembles a small tulip, with two cleft 

 pistils and the very large ovary within. At the base 

 of this we find six minute and unformed stamens; 

 so we see that each flower is trying to become a 

 perfect flower; that the asparagus is still in a state 

 of development and may in course of time abandon 

 the dioecious habit and succeed in producing flowers 

 with both pistils and stamens; or it may now be 

 degenerating and losing the power to produce per- 

 fect flowers. 



Devil's Bit, or Blazing Star 



i^Chamcelirium luteum) 



A somewhat rare flower, devils bit 



growing in moist soil and 

 blooming in May and June. The staminate 

 flowers — with six stamens and six narrow, cream- 

 white petals — grow in a long, gracefully bending 

 spike. The pistillate flowers — of a greenish white, 

 consisting of an ovary with its pistils three-parted, 

 and six narrow petals — are crowded close in a short, 

 stiff spike, easily distinguished afar off from its 

 companion flower. The two kinds of plants are 



