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BLUETS; INNOCENTS. 



From April until July, large beds 

 of pretty little Bluets often trans- 

 form our green fields into misty, 

 bluish-white areas. While they are 

 so very abundant that little atten- 

 tion is usually given them, these lit- 

 tle flowers are quite interesting. 

 They are dimorphic, that is different 

 flowers are differently constructed. 

 Some have a long,two-parted pistil 

 that comes even to the end of the 

 tiny little bell-shaped corolla and the 

 anthers or polen sacs are located in 

 pairs near the bottom of the tube; 

 other blossoms have a very short pis- 

 til and the anthers are on opposite 

 sides near the outer end of the tube. This is a very clever 

 arrangement for insuring that pollen from the one kind of 

 flower shall be left on the stigma of the other kind, which is 

 usually on an entirely different plant. A bee visiting a 

 high-anthered flower receives pollen near the base of his 

 tongue and it can only be left at a plant which has flowers 

 with a high stigma. The same is true of the flowers in 

 which the anthers are low in the tube. An inspection of 

 several clumps of these flowers will readily disclose the two 

 kinds of blossoms, the differences being plainly evident in 

 the shapes of the outside of the tube. 



PARTMDGEBERRY belongs to the Madder Family, 

 as do bluets, and has dimorphic flowers like those of the 

 last species. The vine trails along the ground, putting out 

 its handsome round, dark green, white-veined leaves in 

 pairs. The pinkish-white, four-lobed, bell-shaped flowers 

 also grow in pairs at the ends of the stems and branches. 

 They are not only beautiful but nearly as sweet scented as 

 Arbutus. In fall the flowers are replaced by a single twin- 

 berry bright red in color. These berries last through the 

 winter, provided they are not sooner eaten by birds, and 

 the leaves are evergreen too. 



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