WILD THYME, 179 



themselves. The honey-seekers and the 

 honey-producers seem to have evolved side 

 by side for one another^s mutual benefit. 



There is another noteworthy point, how- 

 ever, about the wild thyme which marks it 

 off from the rest of the labiates in one respect 

 as a very special and peculiar form. If you 

 pick a little spray from the clump that covers 

 this hollow in the rock basin you will see 

 that it has some small unopened buds at the 

 top end of the spike, some full-blown blossoms 

 half-way down, and some overblown flower- 

 cups on the stalk below. Now, if you look 

 into these overblown cups you will see that 

 they are apparently very shallow — much 

 more shallow than in this bit of hemp-nettle 

 — another common labiate — which I have 

 picked for comparison with them. Moreover, 

 the cup in the hemp-nettle is filled by four 

 little flattened nuts or seeds, while that of the 

 thyme seems to be empty. Of course the 

 object of all flowering is the production of 

 seeds ; and one might at first sight be tempted 



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