Personality of plants

PERSONALITY OF PLANTS
directly into a blossom after nectar, is to almost
always mistake it for a Butterfly.
Many birds are invaluable allies of the
plant world. They devour thousands of leafeating
insects per day and so keep down
the army of enemies which would otherwise destroy
whole forests. Birds like the Wood-
peckers rid tree bark of wood-boring crawlers.
In the human world every partner does not
always live up to his agreements. And there are
evidences that both plants and their allies some-
times engage in questionable practices, border-
ing on deception and chicanery.
The insects are often enough the offenders,
and their crime is most frequently one of rob-
bery. If they can get the sweets they are after
without carrying out their share of the bargain,
they will do so. Bumble Bees have been ob-
served to cut through the flower-walls of a Nasturtium
and so extract its nectar without com-
ing near the pollen-producing stamens. Sweet
Peas frequently ignore the insects and fertilize
themselves. The Hawkweed (Hieracium) has
so little faith in insect allies that it produces
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