24 THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS. 



which appealed to rather higher insects would become 

 pink or red ; and those which laid themselves out for 

 bees and butterflies, the aristocrats of the arthropo- 

 dous world, would grow for the most part to be purple 

 or blue. 



Now, this is very much what we actually find to be 

 the case in nature. The simplest and earliest flowers 

 are those with regular, symmetrical, open cups, like 

 the Ranunculus genus, the Potentillas, and the Alsinece, 

 or chickweeds, which can be visited by any insects 

 whatsoever; and these are in large part yellow or 

 white. A little higher are flowers like the campions 

 or Silenece, and the stocks (Matthiola), with more or 

 less closed cups, whose honey can only be reached by 

 more specialised insects ; and these are oftener pink 

 or reddish. More profoundly modified are those 

 irregular one-sided flowers, like the violets, peas, and 

 orchids, which have assumed special shapes to accom- 

 modate bees or other specific honey-seekers ; and 

 these are often purple and not unfrequently blue. 

 Highly specialised in another way are the flowers like 

 harebells (Campanula}, scabious (Dipsacecz), and heaths 

 (Ericacecs], whose petals have all coalesced into ^ a 

 tubular corolla ; and these might almost be said to be 

 usually purple or blue. And, finally, highest of all 

 are the flowers like labiates (rosemary, Salvia, &c.) 

 and speedwells ( Veronica), whose tubular corolla has 

 been turned to one side, thus combining the united 

 petals with the irregular shape ; and these are almost 

 invariably purple or blue. 



We shall proceed to give a few selected examples 

 from the families best represented in the British 

 flora. 



