VIII. CUCKOO-PINT.

In the bank which supports the hedge, beside this little hanger¹ on the flank of Black Down, the glossy² arrow-headed leaves of the common arum form at this moment beautiful masses of vivid green foliage³. 'Cuckoo-pint' is the pretty poetical⁴ old English name for the plant; but village children know it better by the equally quaint⁵ and fanciful title of 'lords and ladies.' The arum is not now in flower: it blossomed much earlier in the season, and its queer clustered fruits are just at present swelling⁶ out into rather shapeless little light-green bulbs, preparatory to assuming the bright coral-red hue⁸ which makes them so conspicuous⁹ among the hedgerows during the autumn months. A cut-and-dry technical botanist¹⁰ would therefore have little to say to it in its present stage, because he cares only for the flowers and seeds which help him in his dreary¹¹ classifications, and give him so splendid an opportunity for displaying the treasures of his Latinised terminology¹². But to me the plant itself is the central point of interest, not the names (mostly in bad Greek) by which this or that local orchid-hunter has endeavoured to earn immortality¹³.

This arum, for example, grows first from a small hard seed with a single lobe¹⁴ or seed-leaf. In the seed there is a little store of starch¹⁵ and albumen laid up by the mother-plant, on which the young arum feeds, just as truly as the growing chick feeds on the white which surrounds its native yolk¹⁶, or as you and I feed on the similar starches¹⁷ and albumens laid by for the use of the young plant in the grain of wheat, or for the young fowl¹⁸ in the egg. Full-grown plants live by taking in food-stuffs from the air under the influence of sunlight: but a young seedling¹⁹ can no more feed itself than a human baby can; and so food is stored up for it beforehand by the parent stock. As the kernel²⁰ swells²¹ with heat and moisture, its starches and albumens get oxidised and produce the motions and rearrangements of particles that result in the growth of a new plant. First a little head rises towards the sunlight and a little root pushes downward towards the moist soil beneath. The business of the root is to collect water for the circulating medium—the sap or blood of the plant—as well as a few mineral matters required for its stem and cells; but the business of the head is to spread out into leaves, which are the real mouths and stomachs of the compound organism. For we must never forget that all plants mainly grow, not, as most people suppose, from the earth, but from the air. They are for the most part mere²² masses of carbon-compounds, and the carbon in them comes from the carbonic acid diffused²³ through the atmosphere around, and is separated by the sunlight acting²⁴ in the leaves. There it mixes with small quantities of hydrogen and nitrogen brought by the roots from soil and water; and the starches or other bodies thus formed are then conveyed by the sap to the places where they will be required in the economy of the plant system. That is the all-important fact in vegetable physiology²⁵, just as the digestion²⁶ and assimilation of food and the circulation of the blood are in our own bodies.

The arum, like the grain of wheat, has only a single seed-leaf; whereas the pea, as we all know, has two. This is the most fundamental difference among flowering plants, as it points back to an early and deep-seated mode of growth, about which they must have split off from one another millions of years ago. All the one-lobed plants grow with stems like grasses or bamboos, formed by single leaves enclosing another; all the double-lobed plants grow with stems like an oak, formed of concentric layers from within outward. As soon as the arum, with its sprouting²⁷ head, has raised its first leaves far enough above the ground to reach the sunlight, it begins to form fresh starches and new leaves for itself, and ceases to be dependent upon the store laid up in its buried lobe. Most seeds accordingly contain just enough material to support the young seedling till it is in a position to shift for itself; and this, of course, varies greatly with the habits and manners of the particular species. Some plants, too, such as the potato, find their seeds insufficient²⁸ to keep up the race by themselves, and so lay by abundant starches in underground branches or tubers, for the use of new shoots; and these rich starch receptacles we ourselves generally utilise as food-stuffs, to the manifest detriment²⁹ of the young potato-plants, for whose benefit they were originally intended. Well, the arum has no such valuable reserve as that; it is early cast upon its own resources, and so it shifts for itself with resolution. Its big, glossy leaves grow apace, and soon fill out, not only with green chlorophyll, but also with a sharp and pungent³⁰ essence which makes them burn the mouth like cayenne pepper. This acrid³¹ juice has been acquired by the plant as a defence against its enemies. Some early ancestor of the arums must have been liable to constant attacks from rabbits, goats, or other herbivorous animals, and it has adopted this means of repelling³³ their advances. In other words, those arums which were most palatable³⁴ to the rabbits got eaten up and destroyed, while those which were nastiest survived, and handed down their pungency³⁵ to future generations. Just in the same way nettles³⁶ have acquired their sting and thistles their prickles, which efficiently³⁷ protect them against all herbivores except the patient, hungry donkey, who gratefully accepts them as a sort of sauce piquante to the succulent stems.

And now the arum begins its great preparations for the act of flowering. Everybody knows the general shape of the arum blossom—if not in our own purple cuckoo-pint, at least in the big white '?thiopian lilies' which form such frequent ornaments³⁸ of cottage windows. Clearly, this is a flower which the plant cannot produce without laying up a good stock of material beforehand. So it sets to work accumulating starch in its root. This starch it manufactures in its leaves, and then buries deep underground in a tuber, by means of the sap, so as to secure it from the attacks of rodents³⁹, who too frequently appropriate to themselves the food intended by plants for other purposes. If you examine the tuber before the arum has blossomed, you will find it large and solid; but if you dig it up in the autumn after the seeds have ripened⁴¹, you will see that it is flaccid and drained; all its starches and other contents have gone to make up the flower, the fruit, and the stalk which bore them. But the tuber has a further protection against enemies besides its deep underground position. It contains an acrid juice like that of the leaves, which sufficiently⁴² guards it against four-footed depredators. Man, however, that most persistent⁴³ of persecutors, has found out a way to separate the juice from the starch; and in St. Helena the big white arum is cultivated as a food-plant, and yields the meal in common use among the inhabitants.

When the arum has laid by enough starch to make a flower it begins to send up a tall stalk, on the top of which grows the curious hooded⁴⁴ blossom known to be one of the earliest forms still surviving upon earth. But now its object is to attract, not to repel³², the animal world; for it is an insect-fertilised flower, and it requires the aid of small flies to carry the pollen⁴⁵ from blossom to blossom. For this purpose it has a purple sheath around its head of flowers and a tall spike⁴⁶ on which they are arranged in two clusters, the male blossoms above and the female below. This spike is bright yellow in the cultivated species. The fertilisation is one of the most interesting episodes in all nature, but it would take too long to describe here in full. The flies go from one arum to another, attracted by the colour, in search of pollen; and the pistils, or female flowers, ripen⁴⁰ first. Then the pollen falls from the stamens or male flowers on the bodies of the flies, and dusts them all over with yellow powder. The insects, when once they have entered, are imprisoned⁴⁷ until the pollen is ready to drop, by means of several little hairs, pointing downwards⁴⁸, and preventing their exit on the principle of an eel-trap or lobster-pot. But as soon as the pollen is discharged the hairs wither⁴⁹ away, and then the flies are free to visit a second arum. Here they carry the fertilising dust with which they are covered to the ripe pistils, and so enable them to set their seed; but, instead of getting away again as soon as they have eaten their fill, they are once more imprisoned by the lobster-pot hairs, and dusted with a second dose of pollen, which they carry away in turn to a third blossom.

As soon as the pistils have been impregnated, the fruits begin to set. Here they are, on their tall spike, whose enclosing sheath has now withered⁵⁰ away, while the top is at this moment slowly dwindling⁵¹, so that only the cluster of berries at its base will finally remain. The berries will swell⁷ and grow soft, till in autumn they become a beautiful scarlet⁵² cluster of living coral. Then once more their object will be to attract the animal world, this time in the shape of field-mice, squirrels, and small birds; but with a more treacherous⁵³ intent. For though the berries are beautiful and palatable enough they are deadly poison. The robins⁵⁴ or small rodents which eat them, attracted by their bright colours and pleasant taste, not only aid in dispersing⁵⁵ them, but also die after swallowing them, and become huge manure⁵⁶ heaps for the growth of the young plant. So the whole cycle of arum existence begins afresh, and there is hardly a plant in the field around me which has not a history as strange as this one.

1 hanger   

n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩

参考例句：

• I hung my coat up on a hanger.我把外衣挂在挂钩上。
• The ship is fitted with a large helicopter hanger and flight deck.这艘船配备有一个较大的直升飞机悬挂装置和飞行甲板。

2 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

3 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

4 poetical   

adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的

参考例句：

• This is a poetical picture of the landscape. 这是一幅富有诗意的风景画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• John is making a periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion. 约翰正在对陈腐的诗风做迂回冗长的研究。 来自辞典例句

5 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

6 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

7 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

8 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

9 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

10 botanist   

n.植物学家

参考例句：

• The botanist introduced a new species of plant to the region.那位植物学家向该地区引入了一种新植物。
• I had never talked with a botanist before,and I found him fascinating.我从没有接触过植物学那一类的学者，我觉得他说话极有吸引力。

11 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

12 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

13 immortality   

n.不死，不朽

参考例句：

• belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念
• It was like having immortality while you were still alive. 仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。

14 lobe   

n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶

参考例句：

• Tiny electrical sensors are placed on your scalp and on each ear lobe.小电器传感器放置在您的头皮和对每个耳垂。
• The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for controlling movement.大脑前叶的功能是控制行动。

15 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

16 yolk   

n.蛋黄，卵黄

参考例句：

• This dish would be more delicious with some yolk powder.加点蛋黄粉，这道菜就会更好吃。
• Egg yolk serves as the emulsifying agent in salad dressing.在色拉调味时，蛋黄能作为乳化剂。

17 starches   

n.淀粉( starch的名词复数 )；含淀粉的食物；浆粉v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You should avoid sugars and starches. 你应避免吃糖和含淀粉的食物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cotton and rayon yarns are most often sized with water-insoluble starches. 棉和人造丝纱多用不溶于水的淀粉上浆。 来自互联网

18 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

19 seedling   

n.秧苗，树苗

参考例句：

• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。
• The seedling are coming up full and green.苗长得茁壮碧绿。

20 kernel   

n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心

参考例句：

• The kernel of his problem is lack of money.他的问题的核心是缺钱。
• The nutshell includes the kernel.果壳裹住果仁。

21 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

22 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

23 diffused   

散布的，普及的，扩散的

参考例句：

• A drop of milk diffused in the water. 一滴牛奶在水中扩散开来。
• Gases and liquids diffused. 气体和液体慢慢混合了。

24 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

25 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

26 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

27 sprouting   

v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• new leaves sprouting from the trees 树上长出的新叶
• They were putting fresh earth around sprouting potato stalks. 他们在往绽出新芽的土豆秧周围培新土。 来自名作英译部分

28 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

29 detriment   

n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源

参考例句：

• Smoking is a detriment to one's health.吸烟危害健康。
• His lack of education is a serious detriment to his career.他的未受教育对他的事业是一种严重的妨碍。

30 pungent   

adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
• Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

31 acrid   

adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的

参考例句：

• There is an acrid tone to your remarks.你说这些话的口气带有讥刺意味。
• The room was filled with acrid smoke.房里充满刺鼻的烟。

32 repel   

v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥

参考例句：

• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
• Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。

33 repelling   

v.击退( repel的现在分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• He saw himself standing up and repelling a charge. 他仿佛看见自己挺身而起，打退了敌人的进攻。 来自辞典例句
• Promote the healthy entertainment styles. Repelling the superstition, gambling, drugs and obscenity. 提倡健康娱乐。抵制封建迷信活动，拒绝黄、赌、毒。 来自互联网

34 palatable   

adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的

参考例句：

• The truth is not always very palatable.事实真相并非尽如人意。
• This wine is palatable and not very expensive.这种酒味道不错，价钱也不算贵。

35 pungency   

n.（气味等的）刺激性；辣；（言语等的）辛辣；尖刻

参考例句：

• I'd also like some pungency wings for appetizer. 我想要在餐前来点辣鸡翅。 来自辞典例句
• He commented with typical pungency. 他评论时带着典型的讽刺口气。 来自互联网

36 nettles   

n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I tingle where I sat in the nettles. 我坐过在荨麻上的那个部位觉得刺痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard. 那蔓草丛生的凄凉地方是教堂公墓。 来自辞典例句

37 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

38 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 rodents   

n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句

40 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

41 ripened   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They're collecting the ripened reddish berries. 他们正采集熟了的淡红草莓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The branches bent low with ripened fruits. 成熟的果实压弯了树枝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

42 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

43 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

44 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

45 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

46 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

47 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

48 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

49 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

50 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

51 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

52 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

53 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

54 robins   

n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书）

参考例句：

• The robins occupied their former nest. 那些知更鸟占了它们的老窝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Benjamin Robins then entered the fray with articles and a book. 而后，Benjamin Robins以他的几篇专论和一本书参加争论。 来自辞典例句

55 dispersing   

adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Whereas gasoline fumes linger close to the ground before dispersing. 而汽油烟气却靠近地面迟迟不散。
• Earthworms may be instrumental in dispersing fungi or bacteria. 蚯蚓可能是散布真菌及细菌的工具。

56 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。