100 THE YOUNG 



the unexpanded flower-buds, which 

 look like little brown peas emerging 

 from the greenish calyx. On further 

 dissection of our flower we find the 

 stamens and carpels are very numerous 

 and separate and distinct in every way, 

 the fruit being a single-seeded achene. 



And now for a glimpse at some of 

 the fascinating theories regarding the 

 evolution and present condition of the 

 pilewort. The mo>t primitive type of 

 dicotyledonous flower is believed to 

 have been similar to, if not identical' 

 with, the buttercups of the present 

 day, viz., numerous stamens and car- 

 pels representing the sexes, collected 

 together into a head, yet each separate 

 and distinct from each other, and every 

 carpel producing a solitary seed. Pos- 

 sibly these organs, forming an essential 

 flower, were primarily of a greenish 

 hue, from which the stamens gradually 

 passed into yellow, for we find that 

 now all flowers of this early type have 

 the stamens yellow. It is quite 

 probable that such primoeval flowers 

 were either wind or self-fertilised ; but 

 as insects increased and abounded, a 

 further bid was made for their visits, 

 for there is now no question that the 

 various specialisations of form, struc- 

 ture, and colour in flowers, are adapta- 

 tions to attract insect visitors. For 

 this end, therefore, in our compara- 

 tively inconspicuous pristine flower, 

 some of the yellow stamens become 

 broadened out into petal-like appen- 



NATURALIST. 



dages, at the same time losing their 

 functional activity, and so a gay, 

 yellow corolla is formed. Froin this 

 stage to the developement of the pro- 

 tective calyx is simply another step in 

 the same direction, involving no new 

 departure. The limits of this article 

 will not allow much illustration by 

 way of proof for this proposition, but 

 an examination of such natural double 

 flowers as waterlilies, roses, fuchsias, 

 tulips, &c, will show the petals multi- 

 plied at the expense of the stamens, 

 and the various transitional stages in 

 actual progress. It is such early 

 unspecialised types of flowers, with 

 numerous free stamens, which lend 

 themselves most readily to the skill of 

 the floriculturist, for the production of 

 those trophies of his art. The pile- 

 wort being in this highly mutable con- 

 dition, the variation in the number of 

 petals is readily accounted for. As 

 regards its changeability of colour, we 

 have seen that yellow is the recognised 

 primitive hue, and the more highly 

 specialised individuals pass through 

 the various stages of white, pink, red, 

 violet to bright blue, which is the 

 rarest, latest, and most highly developed 

 of all plant colours. As it is the acme 

 of floral colour it has also been proved 

 to be the favourite hue of bees and 

 ants, the wisest and most prudent 

 of the insect race. In the evolution 

 of colours the fresh shades or hues 

 appear first on the back or tips of 



