Why are the flowers so large and bright?
[Illustration: [Flower]]
We cannot say that they were always so. It is probable they were not.
But good Mother Nature has watched over them as they came upon the
earth, and she has lovingly made them so large and bright.
How could she do this? Let us see. Here is a tangle of plants. They all
bear flowers and all set seeds. Some are stronger and more beautiful
than others. The seeds fall to the ground. Those from strong and
beautiful plants are larger and stronger than the others. After a while
the seeds sprout. Not all do this, however. The very weakest do not
sprout. Dear Mother Nature has other work for them. “You are not suited
to struggle in the earth with the strong seeds, dears,” she whispers and
lays them to rest. They do not wake up; the materials in them change.
These materials let go of each other; they depart from the seed; some as
gases float off in the air; others as minerals sink in the earth. The
gases and the minerals are not lost. They join some other plant and help
to make it strong.
“It is better to help another than to try to grow yourselves,” Mother
Nature whispers to these little seeds that could not sprout. And they
are happy. They are glad to change into gases and minerals and help
another plant to grow.
Many of the seeds sprout, but not all grow up and blossom. There is not
room in the earth for all the seeds to grow; there is not food enough in
the air to feed so many. Mother Nature with her kind eye looks over the
growing plants.
She smiles and shakes her head at those trying to grow in shady places.
“No, dears,” she whispers, “there is other work for you to do.” Then the
shaded seedlings do not try any more to grow into plants. They give up
the materials they have collected to the little brothers and sisters who
have started in the good ground and the sunlight.
They fade away, but they are happy, for they, too, are doing their work.
The materials in them let go of each other. They change into gases and
float off in the air, or to minerals and other substances and sink to
the ground. These gases and solid substances pass into other plants and
help make them strong.
“It is better to help another than to do poor work alone, dears,” Mother
Nature whispers, as she lays them to rest.
Then she visits all the weak plants, and all those in poor soil or in
too much light or too much shade, and lays them to rest. Their materials
go to nourish the strong plants, who are doing good work in the world
and growing in beauty. Not all the plants that live to blossom are good
alike. Some are better than others, but Mother Nature lets them grow if
they are strong enough and can find food. At last the blooming comes.
The flowers do their best. The strong ones make large, bright flowers
full of color and full of sweetness. Mother Nature smiles at them and is
pleased. The weaker flowers do their best; they are not so bright nor so
large. Mother Nature smiles at them, for she loves them, too, and she
will tell them what to do. The bees come and fly to the brighter
flowers; they have rich, abundant pollen and rich nectar. The bees know
this; they do not care so much for the duller, smaller flowers.
When the bees do not come, Mother Nature whispers to the little flowers,
“Never mind, dears, there is work for you to do.” So they are happy,
though their ovules get no pollen and they set no seeds. They are happy
to do the work dear Mother Nature has for them to do.
[Illustration: [Flower]]
The strong flowers set their seeds; they are strong, and they have been
well fertilized. The weak flowers set few seeds; they are not strong to
make many seeds, and they have not been well fertilized. So year by year
and century by century Mother Nature watches her plants and encourages
the strong to grow and helps the weak to find other work.
And this is why the flowers are so bright.
Mother Nature selects those that are to grow and blossom and sends the
rest to help them. This is what we call natural selection, and this is
what makes the earth so beautiful. Only the best continue to grow; the
others are glad to help them.