34 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



tolerated by plants of this habit. The Cotton Grass, several 

 species of Carex, the different heath-like plants found in 

 the drier parts of peaty bogs are instances of this. It is 

 in the Lake district and in the Scotch Highlands that bog 

 plants are seen in their perfection. One gets to associate certain 

 flowers with the Wordsworth country, as, for instance, the Bog 

 Asphodel with Blea Tarn on the Langdale Pikes. The Grass of 

 Parnassus, Bog Orchids, the Bog Myrtle, Bog Cinquefoil, Buck- 

 bean, Bog Pimpernel are all characteristic of peat-bogs. The 

 Grass of Parnassus is in flower in August. When in bud the flower 

 looks like a round ball, the white petals of which may be seen 

 through the green calyx. There are five stamens with perfect 

 anthers, and five bearing instead of anthers a tuft of filaments with 

 yellow glands that answer to nectaries, though they secrete no 

 nectar. The pollination of the plant should be watched. The 

 anthers liberate this pollen one at a time ; if an insect in search 

 of honey alights in the middle of the flower it is certain to 

 brush itself against the anther which has dehisced that very day. 

 If, however, an insect crawls in from the edge of the petals, it 

 has to climb over these yellow knobs to get the honey, and in so 

 doing must almost reach the centre of the flower, and thus it 

 comes in contact with the anther. Thus the Grass of Parnassus 

 can be pollinated by different insect visitors, by those which alight 

 from above as well as by those which crawl in from the edges. 

 The greater the number of insect visitors, the more certainty is 

 there of pollination taking place in seasons, in which insects are 

 few. The Bog Myrtle (Myrica Gale) grows to a height of three 

 or four feet ; the leaves are fragrant when bruised. Generally 

 the stamens are on one plant, the carpels on another. This 

 shrub is wind-pollinated. 



In exploring a bog it will soon be noticed that some plants 

 are found in the little pools formed on the surface of the peat ; 

 others cling to the sides of the pools, others again belong to the 

 drier parts. The Buckbean is not confined to bogs, but is also 

 found in shallow ponds, it belongs to the wetter soil of the bog ; 

 it has densely matted roots which creep along in the black peat, 

 or in the mud of a pond. Its flowers are pure white within, but 

 fringed with pink on the outside, the petals are fringed with white 



