NOVEMBER DAYS 
29 
showy yellow flowers on their slender pedicles 
making the bank a mass of bright color. The 
leaflets close at night and during stormy weather 
and they are also somewhat sensitive to the touch. 
There are five large yellow petals, four of them 
spread out flat, but the fifth, a lateral petal, is 
shaped like a shallow spoon about the stamens 
while the pistil extends downward across the broad 
petal beneath. This plant has the “nectar guides” 
common in the leguminosae family. At the base 
of the two upper petals and the other lateral one 
there are spots of crimson purple which are like 
sign boards for the insects, telling them where the 
nectar lies. The broad lower petal is the natural 
stepping stone for the insect and when he alights 
he brushes pollen from another flower upon the 
stigma. Then he goes towards the crimson spots 
and begins to gather the nectar and as he does so 
he brushes against the stamens and receives the 
pollen to be deposited upon the stigma of the next 
flower. The curved petal is said to be designed 
to prevent insects from entering the flower the 
wrong way. The right entrance is via the broad 
petal doorstep, brushing against the stigma first 
and the stamens afterward. 
But the bright yellow flowers are all gone in 
November and there is time to look at the rocks 
beneath. The very first one picked up proves to 
