POLLEN, OR FLOWER-DUST 105 



243,000 pollen-orains, each alike beautifully sculp- 

 tured and formed. And ao'ain, in the case of a 

 pceony, 3,654,000 L;"rains have been recorded, and 

 as an average for the blossoms oi a single rhodo- 

 dendron bush no fewer than 72,620,000 grains 



Vig. 68. Spherical pollen-^nains of tlu- vegetaljle- 

 marruw riower, sho\ving pores 



have been estimated. And, since tiiese numbers 

 apply to flowers fertilised by insects, the enormous 

 totals that would be reached by wind-fertilised 

 plants such as pines, firs, birches, poplars, grasses, 

 &c., are beyond our calculation or even imagina- 

 tion. These wind-fertilised flowers are usually 



