Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/855

* FLOWERS. man plucked a leek from the Held through which he was passing and stuck it in his cap. ["he Welsh arms were v id u and thi adopted as their national emblem in grateful memory of this event, li is worn bj loyal ■ men on everj annivei arj oi Saint David's Daj Mexico has chosen the nopal cai tus, or prickly pear, as her national emblem. The design on the Mexican coat-of-arms is an eagle perched upon a cactus stem. 1 1 i aid that a fter i hi Aztecs had wandered for many years, a wise man told them thai when they reached a place where they found an eagle perched upon a rock, there thej should build their city. As thej drew near Lake Tezcuco, they saw an eagle perched upon a branch of the nopal growing out of a rock. Here they built their city, giving ii a n; 'Nopal on a stone.' Their I of-arms bears an eagle perched upon a nopal holding a serpent in its beak. In England, ever since the death of Lord Bea conslichl (1881), the primrose lias heen adopted as the badge of the Conservative Party, in the belief that it was the favorite (lower of their "real leader. This belief is said to be a mistaken one. and to have originated in an incident thai happened at the time of his funeral. The Queen sent a mass of primroses on thai occasion with the inscription, "His favorite flower." meaning her own husband, Prince Albert. It was, how- ever, understood as referring to Lord Beacons- field, so that on the anniversary of his death (April 19th) every Conservative now wears a bunch of primroses, and the day is known as Primrose Day. See Pbimrose League. The United States cannot be said to ha generally accepted national flower. In ISX'.l an attempt was made to secure a general expression of opinion in favor of some one flower, and the goidenrod, as being indigenous and more widely distributed than in any other country, n ived the majority of the suffrages; but a national Bower is usually recognized only when tradition and legend give it. significance, and not because of a popular vote. By acts of the Legislature some States have adopted State flowers: Iowa, the wild rose; Maine, pine cone and tassel; Mich, apple-blossom; Montana, bitter-root; Nebraska, goidenrod: Oregon. Oregon grape; Vermont, red clover; Colorado, white ami blue columbine; Ok lahoma, mistletoe: Utah, sego lily. In other States flowers have been selected l. vote of the school-children, or for other reasons are popu- larly recognized: California, the California poppy; Idaho, syringa; Kansas, sunflower; Min- nesota, moccasin-flower; Nevada, sage-brush; Washington, rhododendron: Georgia. Cherokee rose; New York, goidenrod. Consult Folkaril, Plant Lore (London, 1884). FLOWERS AND INSECTS. The dependence of insect life on that of plants is illustrated by the fact that in Germany between 500 and 600 species of insects obtain their livelihood by feeding upon the oak. while in the United States nearly the same number of species have already been found to prey on the native oaks. The elm, wil- lows, and pines also afford food and shelter to hundreds of species, the insect pests of (he apple and other fruit trees also amounting to many hundred species each. Some insects bore in the roots; multitudes of borers penetrate into the trunk, branches, and twigs, as well as hark; while still greater numbers of caterpillars feed FLOWERS ANU INSECTS. uH of the life within the woo.i or in reining the re pro foundly modified i fail liar mode .,1 file, have tened, bodies, are i • wholly, i ir jaw -. bj which thej eat theii 1 1 1 ,!i tl u | and other I lor theii seen in thousand example-, in the opinion of Lan effects upon a Main-, treSSl nation of the form oi the body. It may be i- land plants, more or le like in or primit ive in char- mosses and allied in -i ml Carboniferous periods), a new world hitherto unoccupied was opened up to insect life, of which speedily took advanta The earliest inseel a ckroaeli and i he like, fed on dead leaves or herb plants : ot her- wen- aqual ic and carnii Hut as soon a- plant- became tree-like and grew in vast forests, new habitats were opened up, ol which the insects immediately took advantage It will thus be seen that the intimate relation be twecn plant - and insects must have i rly in geological hi Effects oi Fi ow i as in Modifying I k < oming nov to cot mut ual relat ions and dependence of insects and flowers, we will first take up the -nice adaptation of insects to feeding on i he pollen or nectai ot Sowers. A few insects, some nd certain caterpillars, maj dc ■ i in. peta Is oi i : but the chief attraction lies in the pollen or the nectar, and as the result wi that insects visiting flowers for the purpose of feeding upon their floral products are remarkably modified for this purpose. Eermann Muller has -hewn the way in which insects are fitted to obtain their floral diet, how many characters of flowers and of their visitors "have been developed in reeip tation, and which can therefore onlj be stood when i : together." The insects which feed on pollen or nectai thus fertilize flowers, in bugs, b (lies, must moths and butterflies, wasps, and bees. It should be not iced that none of the primi- ii neralized, or net veined insects are includ- ed among these floral visitors. They contented themselves, a- they do now. with the rank growth of herbaceous plants. The true lur.'s (order Ilemiptera) have the mouth-parts formed into a long beak adapted for piercing the flesh of animals or the leaves .a- stems ts. But -nine of them i Anthoeoris are fitted by their small size to creep int suck honey from many diffi i Minute insects of a imt her gl const antly found in fl where they feed both on pollen and honey. Muller says eize a single pollen eta in in their jaws and convey it to the mouth: they obtain honey by applying the mandibles and maxilla 1 together so as to form a short, conical sucking apparatus. Their jaws and accessory jaws (maxilla long and nai sharp point, and