330 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 
set on slantwise. When the sharp point of the 
cone is touched, however gently, it pierces the 
skin. Then the disk breaks off, and the poison 
which is in the cells at the base of the sting is 
pressed up through the hollow cone and into the 
wound. If a browsing cow thrusts her tender nos- 
trils into a nettle-clump the points pierce her skin, 
the poison enters her veins, and she receives a 
sharp warning to let nettles alone in future. 
We have several varieties of pers. all pe 
oon ite old wand teil ‘Leese mod- 
est little green affairs, so inconspicuous that most 
people do not believe nettles ever bloom at all. 
These tiny blossoms are borne on short branched 
spikes, which grow out almost at right angles to 
the leaf-stalks, and are often half hidden by the 
leaves. Each spike is made up of separate green 
blossoms, with four tiny flower-leaves apiece. 
Some of the wee flowers bear stamens only, 
some bear~pistils only, and, as a rule, both sorts of 
flower grow on one plant, though not unfrequently 
we come across a nettle whose blossoms are all 
of one kind. The stamen-heads explode when 
the bud expands, scattering the pollen, which is 
borne from flower to flower, or from plant to plant, 
by the wind. As the nettles have hence no need 
