"O velvet Bee! you're a dusty fellow -
You've powdered your legs with gold."
Jean Ingelow. (Songs Of Seven)
Has your Mother read you that poem? If she has not, ask her please to do so. I am sure you will like to learn it. It gives you pretty pictures to remember.
And that is just what happened to Mrs. Bug in the Buttercup. Her legs and her body got well powdered with golden pollen.
Mrs. Bug is always very hungry. She can eat more honey than one Buttercup holds. She finds that the Buttercup dish just suits her taste. When she eats all in one flower, she moves to the next Buttercup. Just here is where she helps Mrs. Buttercup in her life work.
Look at your buttercup again. Inside the ring of stamens, see the little hill covered with little green sticks. Each of these is called a pistil.'' When Mrs. Bug goes into the second Buttercup, her body and legs touch the pistil on the way in. Some of the pollen from her body or legs gets onto the pistils. The top of the pistil is called the "stigma.'' The stigma takes this pollen and sends it down the inside of the pistil to a little seed-case. In this seed-case, little seed germs are waiting. We call these seed germs "ovules." The pollen makes these ovules grow into seeds.
Now, that is just what Mrs. Buttercup wants. She colors her corolla a beautiful shining gold to catch the eye of Mrs. Bug. She sets out a dish of fragrant honey to please her nose and tongue. She makes little paths so that Mrs. Bug can find this dish. She puts her stamens where Mrs. Bug must touch them as she eats. Mrs. Buttercup fixes the stamens so that when they are moved the anthers will open and throw out the golden pollen. She makes the pistils so that when the pollen is dusted onto the stigma, it will send it down to the waiting ovules. She makes the ovules start growing into seeds when the pollen falls upon them.
Mrs. Buttercup thinks her pollen box and her seed-case her most important parts. As soon as the sunshine leaves her, she folds the corolla tightly around them. In this way, she keeps them warm during the night. She also wraps them up when it is cold or wet.
Did you ever look at a Buttercup field when it was raining? Did the corollas stay open? Did the field shine?
After the seed is started, the corolla stays open. Then the sun shines right in on the seed-case and ripens the seeds.
Mrs. Buttercup does not stop her care when she has the seeds started. She wants each seed to get a good place to start a new life of its own. You know your Mother and Father want you to grow up and get started in some useful work. They take care of you while you are too young to take care of yourself. They give you schooling for whatever work you think you are going to like.
Now, Mrs. Buttercup knows that her children are going to like to be Buttercups. She feeds them while they are young. She waits until they are ripe to send them away from home. She makes them grow so that they can help themselves. On each seed, she grows a little hook. When a seed is ripe, it hooks itself to anything passing. Perhaps some hooked themselves to your clothing while you were playing and picking them in the grass. Then you gave them a free ride. After awhile, they fell off. They buried themselves in the earth. There, the next year they started new Buttercup plants.
If you want a new dish for your pretend parties, try buttercup seeds. The California Natives used to gather baskets and baskets full of these seeds. Think how long it took to fill a basket with such tiny seeds. But it was fun. Out in the sunshine, all the women and all the children working together. Perhaps you think they did not laugh and play. Well, you should have been there.
In the Native's camp there was always a fire. They placed a flat rock on top of the fire. When the rock was hot, they poured some buttercup seeds on it and parched them. Sometimes they ate the parched seeds dry. Sometimes they made them into a mush. It tasted somewhat like parched corn mush.
And that is just what happened to Mrs. Bug in the Buttercup. Her legs and her body got well powdered with golden pollen.
Mrs. Bug is always very hungry. She can eat more honey than one Buttercup holds. She finds that the Buttercup dish just suits her taste. When she eats all in one flower, she moves to the next Buttercup. Just here is where she helps Mrs. Buttercup in her life work.
Look at your buttercup again. Inside the ring of stamens, see the little hill covered with little green sticks. Each of these is called a pistil.'' When Mrs. Bug goes into the second Buttercup, her body and legs touch the pistil on the way in. Some of the pollen from her body or legs gets onto the pistils. The top of the pistil is called the "stigma.'' The stigma takes this pollen and sends it down the inside of the pistil to a little seed-case. In this seed-case, little seed germs are waiting. We call these seed germs "ovules." The pollen makes these ovules grow into seeds.
Now, that is just what Mrs. Buttercup wants. She colors her corolla a beautiful shining gold to catch the eye of Mrs. Bug. She sets out a dish of fragrant honey to please her nose and tongue. She makes little paths so that Mrs. Bug can find this dish. She puts her stamens where Mrs. Bug must touch them as she eats. Mrs. Buttercup fixes the stamens so that when they are moved the anthers will open and throw out the golden pollen. She makes the pistils so that when the pollen is dusted onto the stigma, it will send it down to the waiting ovules. She makes the ovules start growing into seeds when the pollen falls upon them.
Mrs. Buttercup thinks her pollen box and her seed-case her most important parts. As soon as the sunshine leaves her, she folds the corolla tightly around them. In this way, she keeps them warm during the night. She also wraps them up when it is cold or wet.
Did you ever look at a Buttercup field when it was raining? Did the corollas stay open? Did the field shine?
After the seed is started, the corolla stays open. Then the sun shines right in on the seed-case and ripens the seeds.
Mrs. Buttercup does not stop her care when she has the seeds started. She wants each seed to get a good place to start a new life of its own. You know your Mother and Father want you to grow up and get started in some useful work. They take care of you while you are too young to take care of yourself. They give you schooling for whatever work you think you are going to like.
Now, Mrs. Buttercup knows that her children are going to like to be Buttercups. She feeds them while they are young. She waits until they are ripe to send them away from home. She makes them grow so that they can help themselves. On each seed, she grows a little hook. When a seed is ripe, it hooks itself to anything passing. Perhaps some hooked themselves to your clothing while you were playing and picking them in the grass. Then you gave them a free ride. After awhile, they fell off. They buried themselves in the earth. There, the next year they started new Buttercup plants.
If you want a new dish for your pretend parties, try buttercup seeds. The California Natives used to gather baskets and baskets full of these seeds. Think how long it took to fill a basket with such tiny seeds. But it was fun. Out in the sunshine, all the women and all the children working together. Perhaps you think they did not laugh and play. Well, you should have been there.
In the Native's camp there was always a fire. They placed a flat rock on top of the fire. When the rock was hot, they poured some buttercup seeds on it and parched them. Sometimes they ate the parched seeds dry. Sometimes they made them into a mush. It tasted somewhat like parched corn mush.
You can gather seeds and plant them to start a California Wild Flower Garden at school. You will have lots of fun watching the plants grow and bloom and the insects coming to see them. Just try it.
Pollination Experiment: Kids Science
by Explore Planet English
see also pollin wands from Woodland Classroom
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