seed through which the various species multiply themselves. 
There are other agents than insects involved in this work, of 
course, but probably the majority of flowering plant species are 
insect pollinated, and it is perhaps to the insects they owe their 
great diversity. 
The other most important agencies are the wind, the water, 
snails and small birds, especially the humming birds. The great 
coal forests were wind pollinated, and so were most of the early 
representatives of the flowering type, such as the poplar, the 
maple, and the grasses and sedges. And these and others to the 
extent of about 10,000 species are still pollinated through this 
agency. 
But what do we understand by the word flower? Flowers are 
usually described as whorls of modified leaves which are involved 
in producing seeds — in other words — the seed manufactories of 
plants. The whole apparatus is designed for this purpose, 
though most of us have always thought of flowers as something 
contrived for the pleasure of human beings, or to give beauty to 
a landscape, or to furnish food for such insects as bees and 
butterflies. 
But these are not at all the purposes for which the plant 
goes through such initial preparation in order to blossom. 
Witness how soon they fade after pollination. To prevent this, 
the florist often removes the stamens in Easter lilies and other 
flowers. Many plants, such as grasses, maples, and walnuts 
have flowers the very reverse of showy, and have no honey. 
Especially is this true of many wind-pollinated plants. In a 
generalized flower there are four whorls — the outer generally 
greenish, known as the calyx; the inner corolla of petals, often 
bright colored and very showy; the stamens or male portion, and 
the pistils or female whorl. All these whorls have been modified 
through evolutionary processes, so that in many cases an expert 
is required to identify them. Some of the whorls may have been 
lost or reduced to almost the margin of inconspicuousness. In 
thousands of species all the petals have been partly or wholly 
fused as in the blueberries and the bellflow T ers. In other types, 
such as those of the orchids and the pea family, the symmetry 
and regularity has been twisted and distorted so much that they 
remind one of monstrosities or those grotesque ornaments one 
used to see on mantels in our forefather’s day. The daisy family 
has large numbers of small flowers crowded together, slum 
fashion, in the smallest possible space and surrounded by a 
green dentilled wall of little leaves or bracts. In the poinsettia 
and bougainvillea the green wall is replaced by brilliant red 
and purple leaves and the slum condition somewhat modified by 
the presence of fewer flowers. The calyx and similar structures 
are generally for protection, -while the bright colors are, like the 
electric signs on Broadway — advertisements of wares to be had — 
for a consideration, of course. And so are the scents. They take 
the place, in the dumb life of the plant, of the town crier and the 
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