THE WIND AND THE FLOWERS 173 



may see little puffs of pollen rising above 

 the nettle plants like a faint mist; but, though I 

 have been well stung by this plant in the interests 

 of science, I myself have never seen the pyrotech- 

 nics. The flowers are of exceedingly simple con- 

 struction, consisting, as we see in the detail s^:etches, 

 of a calyx and stigma in 

 the one case, and of a 

 calyx and four spreading 

 stamens in the other. But 

 before the staminate flower 

 opens, the filaments are 

 curved inward and the an- 

 thers are turned downward, /, 

 as shown in the sectional 

 sketch of a closed bud. 

 Herein lies the secret of 

 the explosive pollen. For, 

 when the bud opens at 

 dawn, these curved fila- 

 ments are released and 

 straighten themselves out 

 with sudden force, and thus 

 throw the pollen to the 

 morning breeze. 



NETTLE 



