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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
68
While
each
family
of
plants
is
apt
to
favor
some
particular
general
plan,
the
modifications
in
the
various
species
seem
almost
without
limit.
Let
us
now
look
at
the
Heath
family.
The
family
of
the
heath,
cranberry,
pyrola,
Andromeda,
and
mountain-laurel--how
do
these
blossoms
welcome
their
insect
friends?
This
group
is
particularly
distinguished
by
the
unusual
exception
in
the
form
of
its
anthers,
which
open
by
pores
at
their
tips,
instead
of
the
ordinary
side
fissures.
Two
or
three
forms
of
these
anthers
are
shown
in
my
row
of
stamens
(Fig.
1).
Seen
thus
in
their
detached
condition,
how
incomprehensible
and
grotesque
do
they
appear!
And
yet,
when
viewed
at
home,
in
their
bell-shaped
corollas,
their
hospitable
expression
and
greeting
are
seen
to
be
quite
as
expressive
and
rational
as
those
of
the
sage.
Take
the
mountain-laurel,
for
instance;
what
a
singular
exhibition
is
this
which
we
may
observe
on
any
twilight
evening
in
the
laurel
copse,
the
dense
clusters
of
pink-white
bloom
waited
upon
by
soft-winged
fluttering
moths,
and
ever
and
anon
celebrating
its
cordial
spirit
by
a
mimic
display
of
pyrotechnics
as
the
anthers
hurl
aloft
their
tiny
showers
of
pollen!
Every
one
is
familiar
with
the
curious
construction
of
this
flower,
with
its
ten
radiating
stamens,
each
with
its
anther
snugly
tucked
away
in
a
pouch
at
the
rim
of
its
saucer-shaped
corolla.
Thus
they
appear
in
the
freshly
opened
flower,
and
thus
will
they
remain
and
wither
if
the
flower
is
brought
indoors
and
placed
in
a
vase
upon
our
mantel.
Why?
Because
the
hope
of
the
blossom's
life
is
not
fulfilled
in
these
artificial
conditions;
its
natural
counterpart,
the
insect,
has
failed
to
respond
to
its
summons.
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