ii6 



F'lashlights on Nature 



notice scent of honey ; they cHmb up all stems 

 indiscriminately in search of it ; they are bare- 

 faced thieves with no organs adapted for carrying 

 pollen ; and as they go about in the most reckless 



fashion from one kind of 



plant to another, if they did 

 ever by chance succeed in 

 fertilising a casual flower, 

 they would produce, not true 

 species, but monstrous and 

 meaningless hybrids. There- 

 fore, many plants protect 

 themselves by endless de- 

 vices against the crawling 

 ants, just as obviously as 

 they endeavour to allure the 

 winged bees, beetles, and 

 butterflies. I may add that 

 the head of strawberry clover 

 is further protected against 

 climbing insects by a num- 

 ber of lobed bracts at its 

 base, which effectually dis- 

 perse these thieving ma- 

 rauders. 



While the strawberry 

 clover is young and but 

 recently opened, you might 

 easily mistake it for a small and pinky specimen 

 of Dutch clover. If you look closer, however, you 

 will see that the petals are not so large, the tube 

 not so deep, and the calyx much hairier. Never- 



N«l. 13.— SIKAWIiKRKV CIOVKR 

 BECMNMNC. 10 SWK.l.l.. 



