Plant-life, with 74 full-page illus., 24 being from photos, by the author and 50 in colour from drawings . t 350 PLANT-LIFE necessary to carry. It would seem that these littlemites emerge from their shelter during the night, andpounce upon bacteria or such spores of algae, Kchens,and fungi as happen to settle in their the mites pay for the shelter given by theleaves by protecting them from the attacks of verysubtle foes. A tiny insect, Cynips argentea, producespeculiar galls on the Oak [Quercus pubescens). It chancesthat these galls secrete honey. Ants are attracted by
Plant-life, with 74 full-page illus., 24 being from photos, by the author and 50 in colour from drawings . t 350 PLANT-LIFE necessary to carry. It would seem that these littlemites emerge from their shelter during the night, andpounce upon bacteria or such spores of algae, Kchens,and fungi as happen to settle in their the mites pay for the shelter given by theleaves by protecting them from the attacks of verysubtle foes. A tiny insect, Cynips argentea, producespeculiar galls on the Oak [Quercus pubescens). It chancesthat these galls secrete honey. Ants are attracted bythe honey, and render valuable service to the tree bywarding off predatory snails and larvae. The readerwill hardly need to be reminded that such protection asis afforded in this remarkable case is accidental, notdesigned. The insect happens to find a vulnerablepoint in the plant, and a gall results; the secretion of thehoney is the result of peculiar stimulation; the ants areattracted by the honey, and they chance to serve theplant by their warlike attitude to certain of its enemies. Plate LXXII. 4 h. SEA HOLLY {^Eryngium maritimum)^Order UMBELLIFETi.^. CHAPTER XII ecology: the new field botany The modern science of Botany, with, its exact method,many branches, and most extensive literature, hasemerged, line upon line and precept upon precept,from the early study of plants in a little enlightened those times the medicinal qualities of various specieswere the chief subject of inquiry, and not a few plantswereused in superstitious rituals and endowed with purelyimaginary mystic virtues. Although the early herbalistsused many plants in concocting elixirs that were morenauseous than efficacious, they nevertheless made somevaluable discoveries in the medical line, for which weowe them some gratitude. Those early students of plants must have had greatdifficulty in the identification of species, for there didnot then exist any system of classification, and thenomenclature was
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1915
