January, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



31 



By S. Leonard Bastin 



OMPETITION in the natural world is so 

 keen that those individuals which can not at 

 least come up to a certain standard must 

 soon be outstripped by others in the great 

 struggle. As a consequence it is of the ut- 

 most importance that species which find 

 themselves at a disadvantage in any way should summon all 

 their resources together to strengthen their position. To 

 this end we may attribute many of the remarkable develop- 

 ments both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 



Among plants several of the most interesting examples of 

 this particular form of evolution are to be seen in the case 

 of species which have adopted unusual methods for the ad- 

 vertisement of their flowers. As every one knows a number 

 of species are wholly or partially dependent upon the visits of 

 insects for the fertilization of their blooms. In order to 

 make the presence of the flowers known, these plants have re- 

 sorted to the practice of surrounding the essential organs 

 with gaily colored corollas. For some reason which it is not 

 very easy to understand, a large group of plants representing 



widely diverse genera have been unable to produce attractive 

 blossoms; yet it is necessary that these flowers should be 

 cross-fertilized by insect visitation. Nothing daunted, these 

 enterprising species make up their deficiencies to such good 

 purpose that quite often they end in outstripping their more 

 fortunate rivals. 



An excellent instance of a species which has resorted to 

 rather unusual methods of drawing attention to its flowers 

 is Poinsettia pulcherrima. This plant, not unfrequently 

 cultivated under glass on account of its decorative qualities, 

 is a native of Brazil, and a member of the great Euphorbiae 

 family whose representatives range almost all over the world. 

 The Poinsettia with its small cluster of greenish flowers 

 would be scarcely noticeable among the mass of greenery 

 surrounding the plant in its tropical home; but the species 

 is well able to take care of its own affairs, for it has converted 

 the terminal leaves of the blooming shoot into brightly col- 

 ored bracts, so that each group of flowers Is surrounded by 

 rays of the most vivid crimson imaginable. An interesting 

 side light as to the origin of the bracts Is seen In the fact that 



