. The human side of plants. g ravagers by feeding them from aspecial supply of nectar that is stored in epidermiccells on the under side of the leaves. Insects,mounting the stems in quest of alluring sweets,make the most of the first supply that comes tohand, revelling on this imtil their desire is satis-fied, and then dropping off in a state of drunkensatiation, entirely fooled by the ingenious plant andthwarted in their quest for the rarest wines whichhave lain just beyond. It is the oldest of humantricks! Weapons are the most evident means of defenceman has; and to plants, thorns, spears, a
. The human side of plants. g ravagers by feeding them from aspecial supply of nectar that is stored in epidermiccells on the under side of the leaves. Insects,mounting the stems in quest of alluring sweets,make the most of the first supply that comes tohand, revelling on this imtil their desire is satis-fied, and then dropping off in a state of drunkensatiation, entirely fooled by the ingenious plant andthwarted in their quest for the rarest wines whichhave lain just beyond. It is the oldest of humantricks! Weapons are the most evident means of defenceman has; and to plants, thorns, spears, and dag-gers form a very useful and common the thorns and daggers on plant stems havenot, as many people think, like Topsy, jesgrowed. Those plants which have adopted exter-nal weapons as a means of self-defence have doneso with thought and consistency. One who notesthe position and arrangement of thorn armour willsee that all spikes and daggers point down to meetthe scaling forces. The guerilla worm or insect. TAR-FLOWER Btjaria raceviota. To protect its honey-laden flowers from crawling insects, the plant covers its stalks with bristly hairs. PLANTS DEFEND THEMSELVES 43 that attempts to take any thorned plants treasureby storm will find the first steps easy, but as he pro-gresses nearer and nearer to the goal, the opposingpoints become more numerous, until the way at lastbecomes impassable. No matter how the wormturns, a hard point of needle sharpness waits toimpale him. The familiar thistle is such an armedforce, a thing dreaded of robber insects and vora-cious animals alike, for its cruel, dagger points; yetthe pollen-bearing honey-bee rests in a soft bed ofpurple down and drinks his fill unheeding and un-troubled by the bristling, impregnable armamentwhich makes his source of supply inaccessible to themarauders below. The tar-flower {Bejaria racemosa), growing asit does in the pine barrens of the Southern States,without its armour of prickly hairs would stand
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Keywords: ., bookauthordix, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectplants
