PLANT HISTORIES 11] 
own, and so have plants. I have already told you 
some things about Daisies (pp. 3-7) which I am 
sure will interest you ; but other plants have different 
ways, and you can claim to know plants only when, 
in addition to being able to name them, you can 
describe their habits and tell their life-stories. It is 
nice to get together a collection of dried plants, 
neatly mounted and labelled, and arranged in 
proper order, but a dried plant does not tell you 
much of a story. A true naturalist studies living 
plants, watches them from day to day, ‘sees their 
gradual growth, and knows from observation what 
they will do next. He can describe the clever 
devices by which they succeed in life; how they 
attract useful insects and arm themselves against 
destructive ones; how they compete with other 
plants for food, and light, and air. The naturalist 
is not satisfied with knowing that particular plants 
have certain kinds of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, 
and seeds ; he wants to know why they have such 
things. For instance, why does the Coltsfoot send 
up flowers before leaves, or the Evening Campion 
close its blossoms during the day, opening them and 
shedding its fragrance only at night ? Nature does 
nothing without a reason, and it is the study of 
Nature’s reasons that provides the greatest interest. 
Let me answer the two questions I have raised. 
The Coltsfoot sends up its yellow, dandelion-like 
flowers, each flower-head being a colony of tiny 
florets, before its leaves, for one reason, that it had 
leaves without flowers last year; and for another, 
that it flowers very early in the year, when it needs 
all the sunshine that is going, and objects to being 
