THE FLOWER 



99 



The petals of the scarlet 

 geranium. 



they are more deeply grooved than the larger petals. 



Look at the veins on the undersides of all the petals. 



The other three larger petals overlap a good deal ; 

 the two smaller do not overlap 

 much, but, in the fully opened 

 flower, are set almost edge to 

 edge. 



8. The honey-tube. Pull off 

 now all the sepals except the 

 largest, and all the petals. Take 

 then your lens and see what lies 

 hid at the base of the largest sepal. 

 You see a hole leading down into 

 the stalklet. Probe it with a pin, and you find that it 

 goes down a long way. Here then is a tube. And 

 now squeeze the tube gently between finger and 

 thumb, and you will see that a fluid rises to the 

 mouth of the tube. Put this to your tongue. It is 

 sweet ! We have found the honey-store ! Also, we 

 have found out the meaning of the ridge on the stem 

 that made it look like a double stem. The ridge is 

 the honey-tube (fig 71a). 



9. The path to the honey. And now take another 

 full flower, and see how the insect reaches this honey. 

 The insect will alight on the largest of the petals. 

 This large petal makes a kind of front step, and is 

 strong enough with the help of the two other large 

 petals to bear a large insect's weight. The insect 

 will then push its head down the little opening at the 

 base of the two smallest petals. As these petals meet 

 only edge to edge, they will easily open to make room 

 for the head of the insect. Now the largest sepal is 

 always at the back of these two smallest petals ; and 



