FIELD WORK 105 
plants are about ten days earlier than in Gloucestershire, and 
in Scotland there is nearly a month’s difference from the time 
of flowering in the southern counties of England. 
‘Whe Protec: The means plants have of protecting them- 
tion of Plants. selves offer a large field for observation. 
Winter buds, the protection of honey and of seeds, have 
already been alluded to, but it has been only possible to 
give a few instances ; there are very many more that may be 
observed by those who take a real interest in plant lite. A 
list might be made of the flowers that hang down during 
rain, and hold themselves up in sunlight; of those with 
capsules which open by pores or teeth, so that the seeds are 
protected within the capsule until ready for dispersion ; of 
those in which the calyx closely envelops the rest of the 
flower whilst in bud, and drops off when the flower is fully 
formed. | : 
It is fascinating work to watch the insects 
that visit a flower, yet it is difficult to make 
accurate observations on this subject, for some rudimentary 
knowledge of insects is required. It is necessary, for instance, 
to know the difference between a Moth and a Butterfly, and 
it 1s an advantage to master the structure of the mouth parts 
of different insects in order to realise the close relation exist- 
ing between flowers and insects. Some have mouths adapted 
for biting, others for licking, and others, again, for sucking. 
It will be found that the structure of a flower visited by a 
Bee is different from that of one visited by a Beetle or 
Fly. Some attempt has been made in the accounts given 
of pollination in the different Orders to trace the connection 
between the visits of insects and the structure of the flower ; 
but this is a very wide subject, and one of which it is only 
possible to get any real idea by one’s own observation. Lord 
Avebury’s book, “British Wild Flowers and Insects” is the 
most helpful for those beginning observations of this kind. 
The Disper- This is a subject in which a great deal of 
sion of Seeds. work may be done. The arrangements for dis- 
persion in the structure of the fruit or seed should be 
Insect Visits. 
