The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-01-08

lnnoosnt Files the Victims of Misplaced
Condolences.

lnnooent Files the Victims Ut Misplaced
Condolences.
The majority of legitimate flowers
Gf may be allowed the expression)
get themselves decently fortified by
bees and butterflies, who may be con-
sidered as representing the regular
trade, and who carry the formulating
pollen on their heads and proboscis
from one blossom to another while en-
gagged in their usual business of gather
ing honey all the day from every open
ing flower. But ratiiesia, on the con-
trary, has positively acs uired falla-
cious external resemblance to warm
tea and decidedly high flavor on pur-
pose to take in the too trnstful Suma-
tran flies. When fly sights and scents
one, he Cor rather she) proceeds at once
to settle IL the cup, and there lay q
number of eggs in what it naturally re-
CARDS as very fine decaying carcass.
Then, having busted itself over in the
process with plenty of pollen from this
first flower, it flies away confidingly to
the next promising bud, in search both
of food for itself and of fitting nursery
for its future little ones. In doing so,
IL vi tOuI 30 CItlilLcS III tlt DlOSSOiub
that it visits one after another by dust
ing them successfully with each others
pollen. When the young grubs are
Matched out, however, they discover
the base deception all too late, and
perish miserably in their fallacious
bed, the helpless victims of misplaced
parental confidence. Even as Zeuxis
deceived the very birds with his painted
grapes, SO ratflesia deceives the flies
themselves by its ingenious mimicry af
a putrid beefsteak. In the fierce COM
petition of tropical life, it has found
out by simple experience that dishon-
esty is the best policy.
On most mountain Dogs in Britain
one can still find q few pretty white
flowers of the rare and curious grass of
Parnassus. They have each five snowy
petals. and at the base of every peta,
stands little forked organ, with eigh.
or nine thread-like points, terminated,
apparently. by a small round drop 0:
pellucid honey. Touch one of the
drops with your finger, and 10! you will
find it is a solid ball or gland. The
flower, in fact, is only plaything at
producing honey. Yet so easily are the
flies for whom il caters taken in by a
SNOWY advertisement, that not only will
they light on the blossoms and try
most industriously for a long time
to extract a little honey from the
dry bulbs, but even after they have
been compelled to give up the attempt
as vain they will light again upon a
second flower, and go through the
whole performance, da capo. The grass
of Parnassus thus generally manages to
get its flowers fertilized with no expen-
diture of honey at all on its part Still,
it is not wholly and hopelessly ADAM
doned flower, like some others, for it
does really secrete little genuine
honey quite away from the sham drops,
though to an extent entirely incom-
mensurate with the pretended display.
Most of the flowers specially affected
by carrion flies have lurid red color
and distinct smell of bad meat. Few
of them, however, are quite so cruel
in their habits as rafflesia. For the
most part, they attract insects by their
appearance and odor, but reward their
services with little honey and other
allurements. This is the case with the
curious English fiy-orchid, whose dull
purple lip is covered with tiny drops of
nectar, licked OFF by the fertilizing h;es.
The very malodorous carrion flowers
Cor stapelias) are visited by bluebottles
and feshfiies, while an allied form ac-
tually sets trap for the fy's probos-
els, which catches the insr br its
hairs, and compels him to give u .h..cp
pull in order to free himself; Il pull
dislodges the pollen, and SO secures the
desired cross fertilization. The Alpine
butterwort sets somewhat similar gin
so vigorously that when weak fly is
caught in it he cannot disengage him
self, and there perishes wretchedly,
like hawk in Keepers trap Corn
hill Magazine.