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Personality of plants

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PERSONALITY OF PLANTS<br />

can Stapelia does the same thing with the idea<br />

<strong>of</strong> alluring Carrion Flies. Still another imita-<br />

tor <strong>of</strong> similiar kind is the pale-green Carrion<br />

Flower whose visitor is the Blow Fly.<br />

When in repose, the stamens <strong>of</strong> the pink-<br />

white Mountain Laurel (Kalmia Latifolia)<br />

curve so that their anthers or pollen-bags fit<br />

into corresponding pits or depressions in the<br />

petals. When a Bumble Bee happens along<br />

and blunders among these delicate organs, the<br />

stamens spring up and shower his back with<br />

pollen.<br />

Everyone is familiar with the purple barber<br />

pole <strong>of</strong> the Cuckoo Pint which stands up straight<br />

out <strong>of</strong> a pulpit-shaped leaf. This barber pole<br />

is the upper end <strong>of</strong> a fertilizing device <strong>of</strong> mar-<br />

velous efficiency.<br />

Down in the shelter <strong>of</strong> the cup-shaped leaf,<br />

the pole is covered with primitive male flowers,<br />

without petals or without sepals, in fact, noth-<br />

ing more than simple stamens. Below them are<br />

rudimentary female flowers consisting <strong>of</strong> un-<br />

adorned pistils. Certain Midges and Flies are<br />

attracted into the leaf cavity <strong>of</strong> the plant by the<br />

store <strong>of</strong> sweets at its bottom. Traveling down<br />

[88]

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