THE GLOBE-FLOWER 207 



The Globe-flower. 



The Globe-flower {TroUius europceus, Linn.) 

 (Frontispiece), belonging to the same family as Caltha, 

 is an abundant plant in more or less wet habitats in 

 the Alps. With us in Britain it is much less frequent 

 than the Marsh Marigold. In Switzerland it does 

 not flourish, as a rule, in decidedly marshy places where 

 Caltha may be found, for while apparently requiring 

 a very damp soil, it is a much less pronounced marsh 

 plant than the latter. At the same time, its distribu- 

 tion is rigidly restricted in accordance with the water 

 contents of the soil, though its requirements in this 

 respect are less exacting. 



The flowers of TroUius are very interesting and 

 somewhat exceptional. They never open. Here, 

 again, it is the sepals, and not the petals, which form 

 the conspicuous floral envelope. They may be ten to 

 fifteen or more in number, and are yellow in colour. 

 They are all bent on themselves, so that they converge 

 towards the summit of the flower, overlapping one 

 another, and forming, as it were, a dome-shaped roof 

 over all the other parts or organs of the flower ; hence 

 the name Globe-flower. The sepals here perform the 

 same function as in Caltha. If we dissect them away, 

 we shall find they enclose an equal, or nearly equal 

 number, usually about thirteen, small, flat honey- 

 glands, which by some are regarded as the real 

 petals, considerably modified to serve as nectaries. 

 Others hold that they are more probably derived by 



