SOME LESSONS IN BOTANY 65 
send a slender tube downward through the style and into the 
ovary, and add a tiny bit of its substance to that of the ovule. 
An ovule thus “ fertilized ” will at once begin to develop an 
embryo or baby plant, and grow into a seed endowed with 
the possibilities of a living plant like its parents. The life 
of the plant, therefore, originates with the fertilization of the 
ovule. The life of an animal begins in the same way. It 
may appear very simple, but the scientist and the phi- 
losopher regard the origin of life as one of nature’s greatest 
miracles. 
Now, nature has ordered that in most cases this fertiliza- 
tion of the pistil shall be brought about by pollen from some 
other flower. In such cases we speak of cross-pollination or 
cross-fertilization. Usually the pollen reaches other flowers 
without difficulty, being carried either by the wind or by 
insects. (1) There is so much pollen produced and dis- 
charged into the air that it settles upon all kinds of objects 
in the vicinity, and the pistils can hardly escape. Of course, 
the pollen grains are so small that we do not notice them, or 
if we do see them on our clothes or on our furniture we take 
them for ordinary dust. (2) Many kinds of flowers are 
visited by insects in search of sweets, and their feet and 
bodies become more or less dusted with the pollen, which 
is then rubbed off on other flowers visited. The stigma 
being right in their path and quite sticky is almost sure 
to be pollinated. 
And here comes in the office of the corolla. That contains 
the nectar which invites the bees, and the bright colors serve 
to show them the way. The blossoms of wheat, corn, and 
many other plants that are without the sweet and bright- 
colored corolla, are dependent solely upon the wind for cross- 
fertilization. 
