A pastoral scene delights the eye -
Sleek kine, still ewes, with lambkins spry,
And pannikins crowded on the hills
Which Flora's Fairy Jersey fills.
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| The cream cups are cousins to the California poppies. Their scientific name is Platystemon californicus. |
A little cousin of the Poppy is the Cream-Cup. You and I may think it does not look much like its brighter cousin, but then not all cousins look alike!
Botanists say they are cousins. Botanists are persons who have studied plants well. They say that the Poppy and the Cream-Cup are cousins!
The Cream-Cup colors a field as well as do either Poppy or Buttercup. Their pale light catches the eye of Mrs. Bug. At once she thinks of dining. She feels that there must be good food awaiting her in such a pretty setting. As she gets nearer, whiff! Her nose sniffs in pleasure. Surely a great treat awaits her.
Down she swoops onto a Cream-Cup. She smells the honey stronger. There down at the lower part of the petal a yellow spot shines into her eye.
''Boom! Boom! ,'' she burrs. ''What a pretty table is set for my dinner.''
She crawls down quickly. As she goes, she knocks against the stamens. At once, the anthers open and pour their pollen over her. When she has eaten all the feast set in the first Cream-Cup, she goes to a second. Here the pistils are ready to make seed. As she passes down the honey paths in the cup, her legs touch the stigmas and shake some pollen on them. The stigmas send down the pollen to the ovules and the seeds begin to grow.
Let us look at a Cream-Cup. Is its corolla satiny like that of its cousin Poppy? Does it varnish the inside of its petals as Mrs. Buttercup does? Is its corolla woven of as thin material as is the corolla of Poppy or that of Buttercup?
Count the petals. You see that it has six, while Poppy has but four, and Buttercup has more than five. You see that three of the petals are set in a little nearer the center than the other three are. This is a very good plan. If it gets dark or wet or cold, Cream-Cup wraps her petals around her stamens and pistils to keep them safe. With such thick petals, she could not fold them tight enough if they were all set in one circle. You can try it with paper. Cut a flower of six petals all in one circle.. Cut another flower in two sets of three petals. Now, wrap them up. Which makes the smaller bundle? Which will best keep out the cold?
Look at a Cream-Cup bud. See how hairy the calyx is. That is Cream-Cup's way of keeping her baby flowers warm. You see the three sepals on the bud. Are they hairy inside?
Now look at a flower again. Is there any calyx on it? No, there is not. Now you see that Mrs. Cream-Cup has some of the same habits her cousin Mrs. Poppy has. She pushes off her calyx early. That is why her petals have to fold together tightly. They do the work of the calyx in keeping the pollen and pistils safe.
If you want to know how many stamens there are, you have to know how to count. No easy four or five about them. You see, studying flowers will help you in your counting work. You would dislike not to be able to count the stamens in a Cream-Cup, would you not?
There are a number of pistils too. At first, they are joined together in a ring. As they grow older, they loosen themselves from the ring and stand alone.
If you look at the leaves and stem, you see that they are well covered with hairs. This shows that Mrs. Cream-Cup likes to grow in the early Spring time. She comes out in the warm sunshine, but she is ready for cold nights. She does not wish her plants to be frost-bitten before her flowers have made good seeds.
Do you know the seed-case of Cream-Cup? See how it swells out between the seeds. This gives every little smooth seed a tiny cell of its own. A dry seed-case will break easily between the two seed cells, and then the seeds fall out.
Do you play any games with Cream-Cup? We did not when I was a little girl, but perhaps other children did. If you know of any games with them, will you tell your Teacher? Then, perhaps, she will tell me.
You can draw the Cream-Cup easily. See how simple the leaves are. They are not cut into as are the leaves of Poppy and Buttercup. When you draw the flower, be sure to put in many, many stamens. Mrs. Cream-Cup is very sure she wants a big supply of pollen. And it is good pollen too.
Have some?
Botanists say they are cousins. Botanists are persons who have studied plants well. They say that the Poppy and the Cream-Cup are cousins!
The Cream-Cup colors a field as well as do either Poppy or Buttercup. Their pale light catches the eye of Mrs. Bug. At once she thinks of dining. She feels that there must be good food awaiting her in such a pretty setting. As she gets nearer, whiff! Her nose sniffs in pleasure. Surely a great treat awaits her.
Down she swoops onto a Cream-Cup. She smells the honey stronger. There down at the lower part of the petal a yellow spot shines into her eye.
''Boom! Boom! ,'' she burrs. ''What a pretty table is set for my dinner.''
She crawls down quickly. As she goes, she knocks against the stamens. At once, the anthers open and pour their pollen over her. When she has eaten all the feast set in the first Cream-Cup, she goes to a second. Here the pistils are ready to make seed. As she passes down the honey paths in the cup, her legs touch the stigmas and shake some pollen on them. The stigmas send down the pollen to the ovules and the seeds begin to grow.
Let us look at a Cream-Cup. Is its corolla satiny like that of its cousin Poppy? Does it varnish the inside of its petals as Mrs. Buttercup does? Is its corolla woven of as thin material as is the corolla of Poppy or that of Buttercup?
Count the petals. You see that it has six, while Poppy has but four, and Buttercup has more than five. You see that three of the petals are set in a little nearer the center than the other three are. This is a very good plan. If it gets dark or wet or cold, Cream-Cup wraps her petals around her stamens and pistils to keep them safe. With such thick petals, she could not fold them tight enough if they were all set in one circle. You can try it with paper. Cut a flower of six petals all in one circle.. Cut another flower in two sets of three petals. Now, wrap them up. Which makes the smaller bundle? Which will best keep out the cold?
Look at a Cream-Cup bud. See how hairy the calyx is. That is Cream-Cup's way of keeping her baby flowers warm. You see the three sepals on the bud. Are they hairy inside?
Now look at a flower again. Is there any calyx on it? No, there is not. Now you see that Mrs. Cream-Cup has some of the same habits her cousin Mrs. Poppy has. She pushes off her calyx early. That is why her petals have to fold together tightly. They do the work of the calyx in keeping the pollen and pistils safe.
If you want to know how many stamens there are, you have to know how to count. No easy four or five about them. You see, studying flowers will help you in your counting work. You would dislike not to be able to count the stamens in a Cream-Cup, would you not?
There are a number of pistils too. At first, they are joined together in a ring. As they grow older, they loosen themselves from the ring and stand alone.
If you look at the leaves and stem, you see that they are well covered with hairs. This shows that Mrs. Cream-Cup likes to grow in the early Spring time. She comes out in the warm sunshine, but she is ready for cold nights. She does not wish her plants to be frost-bitten before her flowers have made good seeds.
Do you know the seed-case of Cream-Cup? See how it swells out between the seeds. This gives every little smooth seed a tiny cell of its own. A dry seed-case will break easily between the two seed cells, and then the seeds fall out.
Do you play any games with Cream-Cup? We did not when I was a little girl, but perhaps other children did. If you know of any games with them, will you tell your Teacher? Then, perhaps, she will tell me.
You can draw the Cream-Cup easily. See how simple the leaves are. They are not cut into as are the leaves of Poppy and Buttercup. When you draw the flower, be sure to put in many, many stamens. Mrs. Cream-Cup is very sure she wants a big supply of pollen. And it is good pollen too.
Have some?
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native wild flowers? by gardenstead
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