74 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



Orchid. This determines the approach of the insect in a definite 

 way, so that particular portions of its body are dusted with pollen. 

 The advantage of this greater precision in the pollination mechan- 

 ism lies in the smaller amount of pollen that need be produced. 

 While large amounts of this are formed by the numerous stamens 

 of the Buttercup or the Poppy, only two stamens are fertile in the 

 Sage (Vol. III. p. 185), and only one in the Orchid (Vol. III. p. 203). 

 These are examples of highly specialised flowers. The Sage and 

 the Dead-Nettie are specially suited to bees, the Foxglove (Vol. IV. 

 p. 10) to humble-bees, the Red Campion (Vol. III. p. 191) to Butter- 

 flies, and the Honeysuckle (Vol. IV. p. 32) to moths. 



The details of particular mechanisms cannot be entered into 

 here, but it may be pointed out how frequently the stamens at 

 one stage occupy the position which later is taken up by the 

 stigma. The Rose-Bay Willow Herb is a good example of this, 

 and another may be taken from the Wood Sage (Teucrium 

 scorodonia), a plant which has not been described at length. The 

 flower is constructed on the same general plan as that of the 

 Bugle (Vol. III. p. 219), and Fig. 18 will show without further 

 description how the stigma takes up the position occupied by the 

 anthers at an earlier stage while these become bent out of the 

 way. In the works mentioned below the student will find informa- 

 tion to help him in extending his observations on the methods 

 of pollination to other flowers. 



THE DISPERSAL OF FRUITS AND SEEDS 



Another subject upon which a few remarks may be helpful 

 is the dispersal of the fruits and seeds of plants. Here also 

 attention has been drawn to points of interest in connection with 

 the plants described, and all that can be done is to gather them 

 together in a more general statement. The use of the seed is 

 to reproduce the plant, and in order that this may be successfully 

 effected not only must seeds be developed, but they must be given 

 a chance of finding suitable spots to germinate in. Many of the 

 seeds produced by a plant never germinate, many others germinate 

 but the plant never gets beyond the seedling stage. Still the 

 majority of plants produce so many seeds that, if a few find by 



