182 Our Field and Forest Trees 



parts while they are in the bud, and, in some 

 cases, it closes over them and shelters them at 

 night, or during stormy weather. Sometimes it 

 joins fast to the base of the pistil, as summer goes 

 on, and we meet with it in autumn, changed and 

 grown out of all knowledge, and forming part of 

 the fruit. 



Most of the insects which love nectar and carry 

 pollen thrive best where summers are long and 

 warm. And trees which depend upon insects to 

 carry pollen for them cannot go on living, gen- 

 eration after generation, where the summers are 

 too short or too cold to suit their winged mes- 

 sengers. 



The catalpa, buckeye, tulip tree, magnolia, and 

 rhododendron grow wild only where insect lovers 

 of the sun are numerous, and the long summers of 

 the south give the trees plenty of time to enter- 

 tain their winged friends, and then ripen their 

 seed. 



In the far northern states and Canada, these 

 trees are seldom found, except in cultivated land. 



In northern parks and gardens they bear but 

 little seed, perhaps none at all. Their blossoms 

 may appear freshly adorned to receive company 

 just when a spell of cold, rainy weather has driven 

 the butterflies, humming-birds, beetles, wasps, and 

 bumblebees into hiding. Or if the flowers open 

 In sunshine, and insects visit them, early frost may 

 prevent the seeds from getting ripe. 



