236 ANOTHER PART OF THE STREAM 



hard to reach in the water, and besides they have 

 a rather horrid smell. 



Close by them in the stream some pretty white 

 flowers grow which are called Arrow-heads. I am 

 often glad they are there, for we have no white 

 Water Lilies nearer our house than Uncle Hiram's 

 pond. Of course the Arrow-heads don't look a 

 bit like Water Lilies, and they haven't the Lilies' 

 sweet fragrance. But they are bright and pretty, 

 and there is something curious about them. Their 

 flowers grow in two groups of three around the 

 stem, one above the other, and yet the flowers in 

 these groups do not look the same. Those in the 

 lower group are quite plain, for they are small 

 and their dull little petals fall off early. But the 

 ones in the upper group have large, white petals 

 that are smooth and waxy-looking. These showy 

 flowers are the male ones, and the little modest ones 

 below are their mates. Tommy doesn't think it a 

 bit strange that the little mates should be so much 

 plainer than the other flowers. He says that the 

 male Bobolink is much handsomer than its mate, 

 and that this is true about other birds. He thinks 

 things should be the same with flowers. 



The leaves of Arrow-heads are even more like 

 arrows than those of Pickerel-weed. One day I 

 picked a few of them and a stalk of the flowers. 

 The soft mud they grew in came up with the stems, 

 and on the under sides of the leaves I soon saw 

 many fat, black bugs. The flowers dropped off 



