THE CLOVER BLOOMS. 8i 



And now let us look at the little white strajj^^lincj 

 kind of clover which irrows all over the shallow grass 

 of the knoll here. In shape, its florets are just the same 

 long tubular blossoms as those of the purple clover ; but 

 there are only two or three of them on each head, instead 

 of forty or fifty. Sec how well adapted tliey are, how- 

 ever, to their habitat. The stems and leaves and buds 

 creep prostrate along the ground, so as to get as much 

 as possible out of the way of the close -biting sheep ; 

 but the flowers turn up straight just at the moment of 

 blossoming, so as to catch the attention of the passing 

 bee. Both kinds are sweet-scented, like most bee-flowers, 

 and with a very suggestive savour of honey in their 

 scent too. As soon as the white kind has been fertilised, 

 however, it turns down its head towards the ground, so 

 as to .save the swelling pods from the hungry sheep. 

 At the same time the stem lengthens, and a very curious 

 change begins to take place in the head. If you look 

 close into the flowering branches, you will see a small 

 green knob in the centre, bctw^ecn the three florets. 

 Thi.s knob really consists of the other undeveloped 

 blossoms which once formed the head, for it ought 

 by descent to have at least ten or twelve instead of 

 three. After the pods begin to set, and the stem to 

 turn downward, these undeveloped blossoms grow out 

 into short thick fibres, each five-fingered at the tip, as a 

 reminiscence of the five lobes which once went to make 

 up the original calyx. As the stem lengthens, the 

 fingers push their way slowly into the loose earth with a 

 screw-like action, and at last make a hole for the three 

 pods, which have already turned back on their stalks, so 

 as to offer as little resistance as possible to the soil. 



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