PERFECT FLOWERS 



77 



while avoiding others often more 

 showy and more fragrant. Thus he 

 is sure to distribute pollen among 

 flowers of the same kind. 



A curious and unexpected result 

 follows this mode of cross-fertilisa- 

 tion. Any gardener will notice that 

 seeds are formed only on the lower 

 portions of any spike, the reason for 

 this being that, by the time the upper 

 buds have bloomed, shed their pollen 

 and ripened their pistils, all the 

 flowers in the vicinity have done the 

 same and there is no more pollen to 

 be had; hence all the upper flow- 

 ers fade without fertilisation tak- 

 ing place. 



Bellflower — Campanula rapunculoides 

 June-Sept. 



Let us take the bellflower, 

 one of our most winning native 

 flowers, as an illustration which exhibits inter- 

 esting peculiarities of its own. Each flower is 

 graceful in form and attractive in colour, but the 

 lure and the charm of the bellflowers reside un- 

 doubtedly in their assemblage in long, tapering 



BELLFLOWER 



