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Personality of plants

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ALLIES OF THE PLANT WORLD<br />

pointing hairs only to find that, when he at-<br />

tempts to go out again, the bristles present stiff,<br />

unyielding obstacles against his egress. In his<br />

excitement at this discovery, he buzzes around<br />

quite angrily and, without noticing it, thor-<br />

oughly showers the stigma with pollen and in-<br />

cidentally covers his own body with a good<br />

supply to be carried on to the next stop. When<br />

this process is quite complete, the flower gra-<br />

ciously relents, relaxes its hairs and allows the<br />

exasperated insect to escape.<br />

The Pedicularis family uses similiar coercive<br />

methods, and by sharp teeth, forces insect-visitors<br />

to take a course through the flowers which<br />

brings them in contact with both stamens and<br />

pistils.<br />

The purple Loosestrife, pretty dweller by<br />

banks and meadows, sets a rich table and so always<br />

has plenty <strong>of</strong> insect visitors. It produces<br />

six different kinds <strong>of</strong> yellow and green pollen,<br />

and is therefore sure to suit every taste. In-<br />

cidentally it has two different sets <strong>of</strong> stamens<br />

and stigmas <strong>of</strong> three different lengths.<br />

Night-blooming flowers only entertain after<br />

the sun goes down. All day long they look<br />

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