| Show Wisdom W d j of f the thi tho thoC Clovers C r wl jp i f Leguminous Plants I IS om 0 e overs Notes r and anil Drawings by oy w Sixth Grade Pupils BY Jt J t H HPAUL PAUL DIRECTOR OF NATURE STUDY IN THE STATE ST TE NORMAL the Some may think upon reading heading I have chosen for the follow following ing ng hasty observations that the phrase wisdom of the clovers Is used only In a figurative sense and that clovers are neither wise nor unwise but elm aim simPly ply passive forms of vegetation that react In response to outer stimuli I have no argument to offer no theory to propose Here are the facts Judge from them Ulem as to the propriety of using the term wisdom in relation to plants Wisdom there certainly is but as to whether the plant itself Itsel pos possesses possesses possesses that wisdom or whether the elements themselves are imbued with it or whether her the plant obeys the re requirements reQuirements requirements of some intelligence that is outside of itself as when animals are directed by ourselves to results which they cannot even dimly conceive these are points on which men may differ We shall look only to the tho facts and let the theories take care of themselves The Nitrogen N Gatherers First then I suppose most of my readers know knoy that the leguminous family of plants form forma a group very important to tr mankind to the lower an animals and even to other families of the plant creation All are aware that peas pea beans lentils etc comprise some of our most important food foodstuffs foodstuffs stuffs The seeds of many of this vast order of plants that bear the or butterfly flowers are very nutritious They contain nitrogenous compounds and nitrogen while abundant abundant abundant dant is exceedingly difficult to pro procure procure cure In a form available for food Ani Animals nl mals male as aa well as human beings seek these foods Moreover since nitrogen is a necessary part of the food of at plants also and since it is not naturally naturally naturally ally abundant in soils solis the duty of ot supplying other families tam lUes of the plant kingdom with this foodstuff foods tuft devolves largely upon the leguminous group These plants as may be explained by and by In this series have hae the unusual power of getting nitrogen from the theair theIr theair air Ir by means of bacteria upon their roots But the nitrogen gatherers do donot donot donot not enjoy this preeminence without paying for it With great care and with many singular contrivances the fertilization of their seeds is effected with the help of the bees By means r of at other devices and similar labor their precious seeds are protected and brought to maturity Still other ex extraordinary extraordinary extraordinary things must be done at their roots before they will grow Many of the tremendous though un unnoticed unnoticed unnoticed noticed powers of nature must be brought Into requisition in order to grow and ripen a single le seed of the sweet pea the lucern the clover the We Ve shall first consider the commonest of them all the lucern up upon upon upon on which In this semiarid desert a large part of at our wealth and well be being beIng being ing absolutely depends The Intelligent Lucern Upon learning the facts one is like likely likely likely ly to say say What a wise plant the common lucern is isIf isIf IsIf If the Indulgent I reader will wUl pluck a sprig of ot lucern still flowering and ex examine amine the blossom thereof In accord accordance accordance accordance ance with these directions he will dis discover discover discover cover something that may greatly sur surprise surprise surprise prise him In the first place the wis wisdom wisdom dom of the lucern is manifest in its mode of ot flowering The blossoms are small mall and relatively Incon Inconspicuous Inconspicuous inconspicuous They hey might in many ln o Stances s escape the tho attention of the ob observant observant observant servant and Intelligent bee if nature had not taken the th pains gains to forestall such a result by massing the little flowers together into oblong racemes at the very tips of the branches This arrangement enables the blossoms to form a a perfect carpet of bloom over the surface of an entire field of the crowded plants The beas bees have there therefore therefore therefore fore a clear field for operations and the chances for securing cross fertilization fertilization of the seeds are greatly in increased Increased increased creased In common with all the lov clovers lovers ers era peas beans and other members of the leguminous It group the seeds of at atthe the lucern must be cross fertilized orI or orthey orthe I they the will not mature mat re The device which the lucern adopts to this result Is quite simple but very In ini i a Rc Ite Iter k r 1 I r 5 r h J j How the Clovers Solve the Problem 1 IThe The white whito or Dutch lawn clover with flowers fully opened on the outer ring The Tha blossoms now stand upright 1 to attract the bee 2 The same head a few tew days later The outer ring of flowers fertilized by the visit of the bee now hang down and seem to be dead 3 The flower head still later all fertilized but two which are now Just blooming to court the polite attentions of ot the bee 4 The final stage all fertilized 6 A single clover flower 6 The lucern flower not fully opened and its trap 7 The lucern fully opened and the trap sprung The pistil Is seen pressing down upon the broad petal vetal S The sweet clover the lower flowers fertilized and hanging down the upper still standing to invite the bee Drawn from nature for this article by Sixth grade pupils of ot the Training School Observation of its workings working s has proved a perennial source of ot de delight delight delight light to the school children who dis dig discovered discovered covered the curious arrangement when studying the flower under the direction direction direction tion of ot the The lucern 1 in m n brief has contrived to adjust Its pis pistils pistils stamens and keel into a little trap for catching the be bee e upon his rounds from flower to flow flower er The bee gets sprinkled with the th e pollen dust from each flower lower and the th e pistil of that flower which does docs the sprinkling is so arranged as to catch some of the pollen from other flowers that may be adhering to the body of ot o othe f the bee when the latter calls for his toll 01 oi o honeydew from the tube cf of the corolla corola How the Trap Works The trap works In this manner Th flower Is composed of the four parts common to all the order These Thee parts are accurately ely figured by my collaborators collaborators collaborators for this lesson the sixth grad grade students In the grade conducted by Miss Bessie Kimball of the state normaL nor normal normal mal You will see the four flower parts In Inthe Inthe inthe the drawings where they are named the wings the standard and the keel Every flower of this order contains c these parts The drawings show the whole flower of the lucern and also the tho parts Darts of the sweet pea separated The large petal the standard or ban banner banner banner ner hangs down In front of the flower a platform on which the bee may ma alight The wings are the petals on each side and just back of the banner ban banner banner ner Still farther back Is a boat shaped or part composed of two petals united into a form re 1 1 i Rl J I I P 0 rl h t 1 tk tt t J 1 k 9 t 1 f Sweet Pea and Sweet Clover I IThe Tha blossom of the e sweet pea tho the bud the flower just open and fully opened to show the broad banner 2 The blossom of the sweet swee pea dissected showing the he two wing wings on the left lett the broad petal and an the h keel on on the right 8 The matured pistil or pod fully developed stamens mens and pistil in flow flowering ering time u e 6 The calyx branch banch of ft the spike of ot the sweet clover 0 I L I the keel of a boat This part called the keel arches over the curved pistil and the stamens so as to protect them from the rain the wind and from chance c ance collisions with sundry objects that might shake off oft the golden pollen from the anthers or might dry or mar marthe marthe marthe the sticky under surface called the stigma at the end of the pistil Just when the stigma is ready to receive pollen upon Its sticky surface from the I back of the bee the flower somehow contrives to have some honey ready for its polite and attentive visitor and the bee knowing this fact alights on n the banner or on the wings He then pushes his head against the hollow part of the keel in order to Insert his tongue in the corolla tube and drink up the nectar that Is there As he does so the pent pistil is released from the keel and jumps forward as if moved by a spring If It the bee is a small one and Is on the banner where he ought aught to be the pistil will reach over his back and before he ha can get away will securely rub off ort the pollen dust since the pistil in this case Is sticky on the under side only The bee ee sucks the honey wriggles out and flies to an another another another other blossom to repeat the operation It is of ot no use for another beet to visit the flower The blossom needs one visit but it has no use for tor more It therefore drives a sharp bargain with Its Insect friend by b secreting only just enough honey one drop to Induce the bee to call can and so spring its trap Aster Ater that not needing another visit the blossom notifies its friend the bee so soto soto soto to speak that it Is of at no use to call can callagain callagain again for tor the trap once sprung re remains remains mains closed close Probably the bee can cannot cannot cannot not get in again since the pistil now presses pre ses close down upon the banner Any honey that might still remain would be only that on the farther side I of the pistil When the Trap Fails Falls I suppose that the bee takes all the available honey when the trap Is first sprung and that he does not frequent that flower thereafter It would be In Interesting Interesting In Interesting to know more definitely whether or not this Is so In order to find yut I Invite the cooperation of other observers especially of the school schoolchildren schoolchildren schoolchildren children and their teachers in the sixth grade to whom the noble group of leguminous plants is assigned for special cial Ial observation Suppose however that the pistil pl of the lucern trap is sprung without catching the bee In the right position to o get the pollen from his back In this case the pistil misses its intended aim and remains unfertilized unfertilized unfertilized As B it now presses down upon the standard petal It cannot get pollen upon Its under side thereafter and hence will be precluded from ripening Its ovules into fertile seeds It will be barren Now our students report that the honey bee alights upon the wings instead of upon the standard and so no springs the trap without coming into contact with the pistil unless Indeed the latter should brush against the bees eyebrows as It shoots past and so get pollen in this manner The re result result sult suit is that many of the ovules fall fail to get and the crop of at lucern seed Is correspondingly small If we could discover what kind of bee does the best service probably the very small bees in the lucern we might be able to double the crop of lucern seed by b putting a few Colonies of the right kind of bees near the fields Anyone may observe that while the seed pods on any lucern branch rare rarely rarely rarely ly number more than half a dozen the flowers are usually two dozen or more Here then Is a practical problem for communities that derive so large a part of their wealth from the lucern Find out what bee does dots exactly the right thing In pay for the honey with which j the plant provides him Another interesting study Is to ob observe obI observe serve how the lucern and the other legumes protect their growing seeds In Inthe inthe inthe the pods developed for the purpose The lucern develops a stiff corkscrew pod that resists the attacks of insects the covers Its seed case with a dense white felty wool the pea has a large leathery In Inflated inflated inflated pod the bean be n a fleshy one The red clover puts a leafy sheath below Its flower dower head Each legume In Jn fact has Its ts special devices for the protection of a product that is so largely the food I of nations The Clever Lawn Clover The little it tle white or Dutch clover found in every lawn solves the problem of the protection of its fertilized seeds in a clever but simple fashion that Is full ull of Interest and Instruction This little species was carefully studied by our sixth graders At my request they have told the story with their drawing pens They have done It so sq well that we need only consult the pictures they the have made for us The drawings represent four of the as they ap appeared appeared appeared on the lawns near the training school buildings a few weeks ago No 1 shows a flowering head just opened Its lower ring of flowers fully tully blown the U e upper and center flowers not yet expanded No 2 shows the a it afew afew few days later when the first row of ot flowers will be seen hanging down downward downward downward ward and the upper row Just opening No 3 shows all the flowers down ex except except except two and No 4 shows that all the flowers have drooped What Is the cause of this difference In No 10 1 the outer ring of flowers have just opened and await the visit of the bee fo o sooner does the tha th bee visit these flowers and collect ct their honey then the transferred pollen be begins begins begins gins to do Its work of fertilizing the th seeds The pollen grain sends a tube through the pistil into the ovary and it enters the tiny Ovule vule As each tach ovule is reached by the Ule pollen tube it springs into a newness Q of life Ute It grows grow becomes heavy and tho the swell swellIng swellIng swelling Ing rod hod weighs down doun the blossom unto un until til to a day or two later the whole ring of flowers fertilized by the bee Is re rc flexed flex d as shown at No 2 Next Cay day the other flowers rifled by the visitor turn down for the same reason braying bray leav leaving ing only two showy show and pretty corol corollas corollas corollas las which now court the polite at attentions attentions attentions of ot the busy Insect whose ser services services services vices are so essential When hen they have all been visited v sited they all turn turndown turndown turndown down as at 4 After turning don the flowers seem to be dead In real reality r reality ity an activity the most intense per ller perhaps naps Imps that the flower has yet manifest manifested ed is a s going on within The seeds are rapidly maturing The dead look due to the dry dr and withering corolla la Is labut i but an appearance The plant Is only pretending to be dead and is doing so in order to deceive the crawling in insects Insects insects sects that would otherwise creep cree up the stems and devour the precious seeds The worms and ants have no use for dead flowers and so they let Jet I these alone But there is another pur purpose purpose purpose pose In order to save saxe the tho bees time as well vell as Its own the corollas wither and turn tum down and neither the bee nor the worm will visit dry or dead looking flowers The bee beo would Und Ii d no nectar there since the clover like Uke the lucern stores stor s just enough Toney to induce the bee be to come once So when the plant is it through with tho the bce bee and the bee with the plant yuck a 3 sign as a this thia will be great gr af value t to hott The white or sweet clover adopts a course precisely similar First it mas masses s its blossoms in 10 ikes to at attract attract attract tract the bees Then as fast as a the pistils are fertilized fert they roop droop and the corolla falls taIls Covered with tough tou h pods and high |
