JUNE 125 



He keeps at his work until he has drained 

 the draught of divine drink, and then -goes 

 his way, and the violet raises its face once 

 more into view. This aristocratic flower, 

 in truth, has set itself out to attract bees and 

 them alone. But this very exclusive plan 

 is a case of that vaulting ambition that o'er- 

 leaps itself. The apparatus is too compli- 

 cated, or the bees are too clumsy; for some- 

 how, though probably adapted to each other 

 in the past, the bees and the violets are 

 parting company. 



SECRET FLOWERS 



As a result, these lovely blue flowers 

 commonly fail to set seed, even when freely 

 visited by the bees. So these plants have 

 been obliged in self-defence to take another 

 plan. Down in the ground about the base 

 of the plant may be found some of the most 

 peculiar flowers imaginable. They have 

 no colored petals, no odor, no nectar; they 

 never blossom, are never visited by insects. 

 But their own pollen fertilizes their own 

 ovules and sets their own seed. Of course 



