116 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



from flower to flower, till all have been satisfied and 

 the little ovules are vivified and started on their 

 way to become bright and attractive red berries in 



the coming autumn. 



PoiNSETTiA — Euphorbia pulcherrima 



This flower, blooming in greenhouses about 

 Christmas-tide and embellishing with its scarlet 



leaves many a holiday feast, 



reveals a fantastic trick with 



its stamens, rivalling the antics 



of the clowns in the Christmas 



pantomime. A glance at the 



poinsettia will show that the 



scarlet leaves are not petals, 



and that the flowers are not 



huge and showy and solitary, 



but small, inconspicuous and 



clustered into an umbel at the 



centre of the showy rosette of 



leaves. And another oddity 



will be observed: namely, that 



there is at the side of each 



POINSETTIA flower a huge nectary which 



resembles a little yellow drinking-fountain full of 



some adhesive nectar. The stamens grow thickly 



upon the flower, their filaments being exceedingly 



