Wild Flowers as They Grow 



brush any of its own pollen on to it. Hence, cross- 

 fertilisation is the rule and not the exception. 



Then the fruits form. Gradually the stalk-end 

 grows and imprisons the seeds. It tinges with 

 yellows, oranges, and reds in succession, and ulti- 

 mately is a crimson globe (not a drawn-out oval, as 

 the hip of the Dog Rose is). Often the mummified 

 remains of the column project from its tip and single 

 it out in the autumn days as unmistakably the hip 

 of the Field Rose. The scarlet coat is rather like the 

 thick rind of an orange, and not much more pulpy. 

 It covers closely a hard, white globe which is cut 

 up like a jig-saw puzzle into many segments, and 

 these, though they vary in size, are after the pattern 

 of the " quarters " of an orange. A little care will 

 peel off the scarlet coat and leave the hard globe 

 intact. As November draws near the hips are in 

 their gayest and most conspicuous days. The birds, 

 attracted by their brilliant colour, come and attack 

 them as they grow on the branches. They peck 



away at the vivid rind, but it is not that that they 



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