Flowers and Their Friends

How flowers and insects came to need each other, explained to children by a teacher who refused to talk down — “it would be very stupid indeed to try to read a book written in Arabic,” she begins, so look up every word you don't know.

Table of Contents

Dear Children

It would be very stupid indeed to try to read a book written in Arabic or Hebrew; we should soon tire and put it down.

The Flower

THE morning-glory and the bracted bindweed might be taken for sisters, they look so much alike. There is no doubt but that they are closely…

Signs of Other Times

In the beginning flowers seem to have had their petals all separate from each other. Some do still, and these we call polypetalous, because…

Morning-Glory Stories

9 pages

The Calyx

It has five sepals - five green sepals.

Blossom Dear

BLOSSOM dear, what is the power Draws the shining wings to thee?

What Happened in the Garden

THE morning-glory lay rolled up in the bud down under the leaves. One day it bloomed.

The Ovules

WHEN the ovules get ready to grow, the flower prepares to bloom.

The Leaves

THE leaves of the morning-glory consider each other. They stand close together, but, as you see, they do not crowd.

To the Morning-Glory

WHAT do you do with your pollen so white?

The Convolvulus Family

THIS is a large and, on the whole, aristocratic family.

Glencoe, Minn

directions. Its leaves, as you can see, are more or less like morning-glory and bindweed leaves. Its flowers are also like morning-glories…

Tropæolum Honey

IF you had a horn as red as a rose, And full to the brim with honey, If a bee came along and begged you for some, Now tell, would you give…

The Tropæolum

LIKE the morning-glory flower, the tropæolum, or nasturtium, as we usually call it, has several important organs. It has a pistil and…

Tropæolum Stories

6 pages

Glencoe Kinn

reach the nectar. The humming bird must touch the anthers when he thrusts in his bill.

Wers and Their Friends

and a roof to protect it, more or less would doubtless beat in during a hard shower. Does the tropæolum bloom, then, in the rainy season in…

More About the Tropæolum

THE tropæolum, which people call nasturtium, has shields to defend itself.

Flowers and Their Friends

2 pages

A Dainty Cave

TOUCH-ME-NOT has a dainty cave Spotted with red and poised in the air.

Jewelweed Stories

2 pages

Lady's Slipper

In the garden grows a relative of our jewelweed.

The Humming Bird

FLASHING in the sunshine, Dashing through the air, Sparkling like a jewel, See him everywhere!

The Pelargoniums

** A PELARGONIUM is a "stork's bill." "Pelargonium" comes from a Greek word meaning "stork," and the plant is so named because of the long…

Pelargonium Stories

4 pages

An African

THERE's a native of Cape Town Always wears a scarlet crown.

Pelargonium Leaves

SOME of the pelargoniums decorate their leaves with horseshoes. All are in the habit of folding their leaves fan-like in the bud. When they…

The Geranium Family

THE Geranium People are rather unsettled as to their relatives-or, rather, we are somewhat confused on the subject. Probably the geraniums…

The Hyacinth

OUT in the garden there's something so dear!

Signs of Spring

Out of doors are signs of spring. The buds on the trees look full, and some are beginning to burst. But there is very little life as yet.

Hyacinth Stories

not think, however, the bulbs are called "tunicated" because they came from the lands where tunics are worn. I think it is merely a name…

The Hyacinth's Sceptre

KINGS bear a sceptre, and so do I.

The Bee

I sail through the air as it pleases me.

Nectar Guides

2 pages

Pollen Cells

In the dark little dungeon cells of the anthers, the pollen grains lie. Hundreds, and sometimes thousands of them, are packed in there as…

The Pollen

It helps the ovule change to a seed.

The Anthers

ANTHERS, anthers, full of pollen, Cunning cupboards of the bee, Stamen flour amply hiding, What have you for me, for me?

Ovule Cells

2 pages

Root Cells

ROOTS do their work underground as a rule.

Skin Cells

5 pages

Tube Cells

THE top of a tree is a long way from the roots. Yet the leaves must have food from the roots, and the roots must have food from the leaves.

Strengthening Cells

0000 PLANTS need something more than cells of working protoplasm and something more than tubes, just as we need more than flesh and blood…

We and the Plant People

4 pages

Nothing but Leaves

4 pages

Stories About All Sorts of Things. 217

The morning-glory, you see, is as wise as it is beautiful.

How Mother Nature Makes New Flowers

4 pages

Tongues and Tubes

A FLOWER tube is a most convenient and safe place to keep stamens and nectar. If it is protected by scales or hairs or a sticky juice, as…

Evening Primrose

South America. But in our country the bees answer very well. The bumblebee is fond of Tropæolum honey and fertilizes the flower, while an…

Glossar Y

12 pages

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Flowers and Their Friends (1897) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.