DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES AND SQUIRREL CORN "In a gymnasium where things grow, Jolly boys and girls in a row, Hanging down from cross-bar stem Builded purposely for them. Stout little legs up in the air, Kick at the breeze as it passes there; There are many beautiful carpets spread before the feet of advancing spring, but perhaps none of them are so delicate in pattern as those woven by these two plants that spread their fernlike leaves in April and May. There is little difference in the foliage of the two; both are delicate green and lacelike above, and pale, bluish green on the underside. And each leaf, although so finely divided, is, after all, quite simple; for it has three chief divisions, and these in turn are divided into three, and all the leaves come directly from the root and not from stems. These plants love the woodlands, and by spreading their green leaves early, before the trees are in foliage, they have the advantage of the spring sunshine. Thus they make their food for maturing their seeds, and also store some of it in their roots for use early the following spring. By midsummer the leaves have entirely disappeared, and another carpet is spread in the place which they once covered. Dutchman's breeches and squirrel corn. resemble each other so closely that they are often confused; however, they are quite different in form; the "legs" of the Dutchman's breeches are quite long and spread wide apart, while the blossoms of the squirrel corn are rounded bags instead of "legs." The roots of the two are quite different. The Dutchman's breeches grows from a little bulb made up of grayish scales, while the squirrel corn develops from a round, yellow tuber; these yellow, kernel-like tubers are scattered along the roots, each capable of developing a plant next year. The underground store-house of The Dutchman's breeches likes thin woodDutchman's breeches. lands and rocky hillsides, but the squirrel corn prefers rich, moist woods. The blossom of the Dutchman's breeches comes the earlier of the two. These flowers are white with yellow tips, and are not fragrant. The flowers of the squirrel corn are grayish with a tinge of magenta, and are fragrant. The legs of the Dutchman's breeches are nectar pockets with tubes leading to them, and are formed by two petals. Opposite these two petals are two others more or less spoon-shaped, with the spoon bowls united to protect the anthers and stigma. There are two little sepals which are scalelike. The seed capsule of the Dutchman's breeches is a long pod with a slender, pointed end, and it opens lengthwise. The seed capsules of the squirrel corn are similar and I have found in one capsule, 12 seeds, which were shaped like little kernels of corn, black in color and polished like patent leather. LESSON CXXI Seed capsule of squirel corn. DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES AND SQUIRREL CORN Leading thought-The Dutchman's breeches, or "boys and girls," as it is often called, is one of the earliest flowers of rich woodlands. There are interesting differences between this flower and its close relative, squirrel corn. The flowers of both of these resemble in structure the flowers of the bleeding heart. Method-As the Dutchman's breeches blossoms in April and May and the squirrel corn in May and June, we naturally study the former first and compare the latter with it in form and in habits. The questions you find Dutchman's breeches? Which do you prefer to call these flowers, Dutchman's breeches or boys and girls? Are there leaves on the trees when these flowers are in bloom? 2. Which blossoms earlier in the season, Dutchman's breeches or squirrel corn? How do the flowers of the two differ in shape? In odor? 3. In the flower of the Dutchman's breeches find two petals which protect the nectar. How do they look? What part do they form of the breeches? Find two other petals which protect the pollen and stigma. 4. Find the two sepals. How many bracts do you find on the flower stem? 5. What insects visit these flowers? Describe how they get the nectar. 6. What sort of root has the Dutchman's breeches? What is the difference between its root and that of the squirrel corn? Have you ever seen squirrels harvesting squirrel corn? What is the purpose of the kernels of the squirrel corn? 7. Study the leaf. How many main parts are there to it? How are these parts divided? Does the leaf come straight from the root or from a stem? What is the color of the leaf above? Below? Can you distinguish the leaves of the Dutchman's breeches from those of the squirrel corn? 8. Describe the seed capsule of Dutchman's breeches. How does it open? How many seeds has it? Compare this with the fruit of squirrel corn and describe the difference. 9. What happens to the leaves of these two plants late in summer. How do the plants manage to get enough sunlight to make food to mature their seed? What preparations have they made for early blossoming the next spring? JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT "With hooded heads and shields of green, I know you well; you are, I ween, Robin Hood's merry men.” T -"CHILD'S OWN BOOK OF FLOWERS." HIS little preacher is a prime favorite with all children, its very shape, like that of the pitcher plant, suggesting mystery; and what child could fail to lift the striped hood to discover what might be hidden beneath! And the interest is enhanced when it is discovered that the hood is but a protection for the true flowers, standing upon a clubshaped stem, which has been made through imagination into "Jack," the little preacher. Jack-in-the-pulpit prefers wet locations but is sometimes found on dry, wooded hillsides; the greater abundance of blossoms occurs in late May. This plant has another name, which it earned by being interesting below ground as well as above. It has a solid, flattened, food-storehouse called a corm with a fringe of coarse rootlets encircling its upper portion. This corm was used as a food by the Indians, which fact gave the plant the name of Indian turnip. I think all children test the corm as a food for curiosity, and retire from the field with a new respect for the stoicism of the Indian when enduring torture; but this is an undeserved tribute. When raw, these corms are peppery because they are filled with minute, needle-like spicules which, however, soften with boiling, and the Indians boiled them before eating them. Jack-in-the-pulpit is a near cousin to the calla lily; the white part of the calla and the striped hood over "Jack" are both spathes, and a spathe is a leaf modified for the protection of a flower or flowers. "Jack" has but one leg and his flowers are set around it, all safely enfolded in the lower part of the spathe. The pistillate flowers which make the berries are round and greenish, and are packed like berries on the stalk; they have purple stigmas with whitish centers. The pollen-bearing flowers are mere little projections, almost white in color, each usually bearing four purplish, cup-like anthers filled with white pollen. Occasionally both kinds of flowers may be found on one spadix, (as "Jack" is called in the botanies), the pollen-bearing flowers being set above the others; but usually they are on separate plants. Professor Atkinson has demon 2 an 3 strated that when a plant becomes very strong and thrifty, its spadix will be set with the pistillate flowers and its berries will be many; but if the same plant becomes weak, it produces the pollen-bearing flowers the next year. When "Jack" first appears in the spring it looks like a mottled, pointed peg, for it is well sheathed. Within this sheath the leaves are rolled lengthwise to a point, and at the very center of the rolled leaves is a spathe, also rolled lengthwise, and holding at its heart the developing flower-buds. It is a most interesting process to watch the unfolding of one of these plants. On the older plants there are two, or sometimes three leaves, each with three large leaflets; on the younger plants there may be but one of these compound leaves, but the leaflets are so large that they seem like three entire leaves. 1. Jack-in-the-pulpit unfolding; 2. Spadix with pistillate flowers; P, pistillate flower enlarged; 3. Spadix with staminate flowers; an, a staminate flower enlarged, showing the four anthers. The spathes, or pulpits, vary in color, some being maroon and white or greenish, and some greenish and white. They are very pretty objects for water-color drawings. Small flies and some beetles seem to be the pollen carriers for this plant. Various ingenious theories have been suggested to prove that our Jack-in-thepulpit acts as a trap to imprison visiting insects, as does the English species; but I have studied the flowers in every stage, and have seen the insects crawl out of the hoods as easily as they crawled in, and by the same open, though somewhat narrow, passage between the spadix and the spathe. After a time the spathe falls away showing the globular, green, shining berries. In August even the leaves may wither away, at which time the berries are brilliant scarlet. Jack-in-the-pulpit is a perennial. It The berries of Jackdoes not blossom the first year after it is a seedling. I in-the-pulpit. have known at least one case where blossoms were not produced until the third year. Below ground, the main corm gives off smaller corms and thus the plant spreads by this means as well as by seeds. |