Wild-Flower Study 



529 



Do j'OK /i/se butter? 



trifle. However, this is not a mere fold, but is a little scale growing there 

 — a scale with a mission, for beneath it is developed the nectar. 



When the buttercup first opens, all of the anthers are huddled in the 

 center, so that it looks like a golden nest full of golden eggs. Later the 

 filaments stretch up, lifting the anthers into a loose, rounded tuft, almost 

 concealing the bunch of pistils which are packed close together beneath 

 every stigma, like Bre'r Rabbitt, "laying low." Later, the filaments 

 straighten back, throwing the anthers in a fringy ring about the pale 

 green pistils; and each pistil sends up a short, yellowish stigma. The 

 anthers open away from the pistils and thus prevent self-poUenation to 

 some degree; they also seem to shed much of their pollen before the 

 stigmas are ready to receive it. 



Sometimes petals and sepals fall simultaneously and sometimes first 

 one or the other; but they always leave the green bunch of pistils with a 

 ragged fringe of old stamens clinging to them. Later the seeds mature, 

 making a globular head. Each seed is a true akene; it is flattened and 

 has at its upper end a short, recurved hook which may serve to help it to 

 catch a ride on passers-by. However, the seeds are largely scattered by 

 the winds. 



The buttercup grows in sunny situations, in fields and along roadsides, 

 but it cannot stand the shade of the woods. It is a pretty plant ; its long 

 stems are downy near the bottom, but smooth near the flower; the leaves 

 show a variety of forms on the same plant; the lower ones have many, 

 (often seven) deeply cut divisions, while the upper ones may have three 

 irregular lobes, the middle one being the longest. Beetles are very fond 

 of the nectar and pollen of buttercups, and therefore are its chief pollen 

 carriers; but flies and small bees and other insects also find their food in 

 these brilliant colored cups. 



