Wild Hollyhock

Hollyhock, with fragrance laden,

Curtsies gaily to the Breeze.

That old Gossip steps out lively

To spread the news among the Bees

       When the Poppies and Buttercups, the Cream Cups and Baby-Blue-Eyes are all coloring the fields, you see spots of pink here and there. Then, you know Wild Hollyhock has come to town. Her color is delicate, but she is well built to carry on her year's work.

       Pick a stem. See how the lovely bell-shaped blossoms are all crowded to its top. Look at one blossom. It looks as if it were made of dainty pink gauze. It has many heavy white lines leading down to the center. You exclaim, "A ha! Miss Hollyhock is calling the insects."

       Even if your eyes did not see these honey paths, your nose would tell you she was making honey. And such honey! Sweeter even than that of Baby-Blue-Eyes. You find the little bowls well filled. Over each bowl is the curtain of fine hairs. These hairs are so fixed that if any drop of dew falls on them, it will slide off without dropping into the sweet dish, which is thus kept pure. The bees just love this feast and come for miles around to get it.

       Look again into Miss Hollyhock's bell. Look well at the stamens. In Baby-Blue-Eyes, you found five stamens standing up on the corolla. In Hollyhock, you find them standing close together in a ring. They look like a little vase. Divide this vase into two circles of stamens. Now, you only need see that the little anthers are a lovely rose pink and their pollen is a creamy powder.

       You will find that the pistil is inside the stamen vase. The pistil does not grow out until after the anthers have thrown their creamy powder away. Then, it grows out higher than the stamen vase. You see it gets ready to make seed too late to use the pollen from its own stamens. These were ready so long before, that their pollen was carried away. It could not get any pollen to make seed, if Mrs. Bug did not bring it some from another flower.

       But with such a bright gown and with such delicious honey, Mrs. Bug is sure to come. And after a taste, she is sure to go into another Hollyhock for some more of the good food. She visits one Hollyhock after another. In some, the stamen will be sure to be ready to throw out the pollen. In others, the pistil will be ready to receive the pollen. So, Miss Hollyhock is sure to make good seed, and Mrs. Bug repays her forgetting out the good meal.

       After the pollen has fallen on the pistil, Miss Hollyhock does not need the bug any longer. She does not make any more food. She is a very honest person. She does not wish to bother Mrs. Bee unless she is going to pay her. So, she changes the bright pink of her corolla to dark purplish color. This sign means ‚"No more parties in this flower."

       "Hmm!" hums the Bee. "Is that so? Well, I'll go to a lighter colored Hollyhock."

       And she swings into a newly opened Hollyhock and helps it do its work.

       When the seeds begin to grow, the corolla falls off, but the calyx clings on.

       In the flower bud, you can see how the sepals fold together to keep the flower safe. See how furry they are outside and how silk-lined they are inside. You see there are just as many sepals in Hollyhock as petals, five sepals and five petals.

       If you look at a flower stalk, you will see that the buds nearest the ground bloom out first. When their corollas fall off, the next higher buds bloom out. And so the pink flowers creep up the stem higher and higher until the very top one waves. Look at other plants and see if they all bloom this way. Do those in your garden at home bloom from the bottom of the stem up?

       Look at the leaves. Some are nearly round. Others are cut into parts. Put a round one on a sheet of paper. Draw a pencil mark around its edge. Now put a cut-into leaf down. Draw around its outer edge. You see the leaves are the same shape. You will find it easy to draw a Hollyhock stem if you will remember the outside line of the leaves. The buds are not hard to draw. The flower is not hard to draw. A stalk of Hollyhock makes a pretty picture.

       Are the round leaves just the same color as the cut-into leaves? Are the leaves the same color on their tops as on their lower surfaces? Have both kinds of leaves hairs on them? Have the leaves near the flowers got stems as long as the leaves near the ground? 

       Do you use the Hollyhock seeds at your pretend parties? Look how the seed-cases divide. We used to play that they were parts of an orange. They are good to eat. Watch which birds come to eat them at a feeder.

       Miss Hollyhock has a sister who is a greater help at a Doll's Party than she is. This is Mallow who comes into many gardens. She comes up along all the streets, wherever there is the tiniest bit of earth. Now, do not turn up your nose and sniff, That weed! Her seed-cases are the "cheeses'' children all over the world play with.

       They are dented just to be cut up like pies. We call them "cheeses" and so do the children in England. The children in France and the children in Spain play with them and call them "cheeses" in their own language. 

       Isn't it fun to think that we are playing party with the same kind of seed-cases that children in other countries are playing with? Mother Nature sends along many interesting things for children.

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