Flowers and their friends

by Margaret Warner Morley

Now what do you suppose these hairs are for? Do you think their being there is a mere accident? Not at all. When the weather is damp, the style, with the feather attached, curls up. Then it acts like a gimlet and forces the pointed end of the seed into the ground. When it becomes dry, the style straightens out. But the seed cannot be pulled out of the ground when this happens, because the barbs on the tip of the seed-case hold it fast! So it does time and again. When it is damp, the seed is forced deeper into the earth. When it is dry, the style straightens out so as to be ready to curl up again.

You see how it is, do you not? The pelargonium is planting its seed.

Certainly the geraniums are good parents. All the members of this astonishing family do something clever for the sake of the seeds.

AN AFRICAN.

There’s a native of Cape Town

Always wears a scarlet crown.

Not a lord of high degree,