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This is the case with the hop, hemp, willow, prickly-ash, and red cedar.

9. The calyx, which forms the outermost part of a complete flower, consists of one or more leaves, called sepals. Sepals are generally of a green color, and are arranged around the lower part of the flower. The term calyx, or cup, itself indicates its position to any one who can recall to mind the appearance of a rose-bud.

10. The corolla, which is in common language called the flower, consists of one or more leaves, termed pětals. Petals are really leaves; but they differ from leaves constituting foliage much more than sepals. They are seldom green, but present11 the most brilliant colors, and perform but to a very limited extent, if at all, the breathing processes described under the head of leaves.

11. Corollas are mon-o-pet'-al-ous or pol-y-pet'-al-ous-that is, they have one pětal or more than one, according as they consist of one or more leaves. Beyond this distinction flowers are variously shaped, presenting to the eye a diversity as interesting in form as in color. Among the mon-o-pet'-al-ous, or one-leaved corollas, we find those that spread out the divisions of their pětal in the form of a salver, others that diverge like the spokes of a wheel; some that, like the morning-glory, are shaped like a tunnel; some that are bell-formed; and others that, like the sage and snapdragon, are called labiate, or lip flowers, from their resemblance to the lips and mouth of animals.

12. The pol-y-pet'-al-ous, or many-leaved corollas, exhibit a still greater variety of forms. Among these may be men. tioned those which, like the pea-blossom, are said to be butterfly-shaped, because they resemble the wings of a butterfly; those which resemble the lily, the rose, or the pink; those which are bell-formed, and salver-shaped, and wheel-shaped; and those which, as the cabbage, mustard, turnip, and wallflowers, are called cross-shaped, because their four petals are in the form of a cross. The seeds of all plants which have cross-shaped corollas are arranged in a kind of pod; and they are distinguished from other seeds by containing sulphur, the chemical effect of which is seen when a silver spoon is used

with mustard. The names of the principal forms of flowers are given in the explanation below.

13. But, besides those which have been mentioned, there are many very irregular flowers, such as the violet, columbine, 12 and nasturtion. Formerly the term nectary was applied to pětals of unusual shape, especially when the flowers were much frequented by bees; but this term is not now used by botanists as applicable to any distinct organ or part. Sometimes the general term perianth13 is given to the leaves of a flower when they are not readily distinguished as sepals or pětals.

14. We know not the causes which dispose11 the parts of some buds to become sepals, petals, etc., while others become leaves; but a flower is always prepared in the centre of a bud, or embosomed among its leaves a long time before they expand. In general a flower is formed rapidly, a few months at most being sufficient to pass it through all its stages of growth. In certain palms, however, some years appear to be required; and it is said that the rudiments15 of a flower may be discovered in the bud of a palm as many as seven years, in some instances, before the perfect flower expands.16

15. While annuals17 flower in a few weeks after their seeds are sown, biennials18 demand some months, perennials 19 a longer time, and trees several years. Some, again, blossom in the winter, as the Christmas rose and the fragrant geranium; others in the earliest spring, as the snowdrop and the crocus; while others can not be made, by any known artificial means, to advance their time of flowering even a few weeks.

16. A great difference is also observable in the hours at

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The principal Forms of Flowers, with their Names.

[graphic]

3

tr I am the

1. The flower called Phlox is salver-shaped; the botanical term for which is hy-pocra-ter'-i-form. 2. Woody Nightshade; wheel-shaped, or ro'-tate. 3. Tobacco; funnel-shaped, or in-fun-dib'-u-li-form. 4. Canterbury Bell; bell-shaped, or cam-pan'-ulate. 5. Mustard; cross-shaped, or cru'-ci-form. 6. Pink; pink-shaped, or car-y-ophyl-la-ceous. 7. Lily; lily-like, or lil-i-a'-ceous. S. Catnip, Sage, etc.; lip-shaped, or la'-bi-ate. 9. Pea, Bean, etc.; butterfly-shaped, or pa-pil-io-na-ceous.

which they open their blossoms. One expands at dawn of day; another species a few hours later; a third at midday; some in the early evening; and others, like the night-blooming cereus, when darkness has established her dominion. Hence what are called the watches, or dials of the flowers, have been constructed tables in which every hour of the day is filled up by the opening of some flower.

17.

""Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours,

As they floated in light away,

By the opening and the folding flowers,
That laugh to the summer's day.

"Thus had each moment its own rich hue,
And its graceful cup and bell,

In whose color'd vase might sleep the dew,
Like a pearl in an ocean shell."

HEMANS.

18. In all their vast variety of size, and form, and color; in the various odors which they exhale ;20 in their wide dispersion throughout all climes; in their periods of repose; in their hours and seasons of blossoming and decay; and in their very frailty, flowers speak to the heart a varied language-a language that appeals to every condition and circumstance in life; they are full of instruction; and they cheer man's pathway from the cradle to the grave.

1 PROP ́-A-GA-TED, caused to multiply or in-|11 PRE-SENT', offer to the eye.

[blocks in formation]

anew.

12 COL-UM-BĪNE.

13 PER-I-ANTH; it means, "about the flow

er."

14 DIS-POSE', cause or occasion.

15 RU-DI-MENTS, the beginnings; germs. 16 EX-PANDS', opens.

17 AN'-NU-ALS, plants that live but one

summer.

7 NU'-TRI-MENT, food; that which nourishes. 18 BI-EN'-NI-ALS, that continue two years. 8 LUS'-CIOUS (lush'-us), delicious.

9 CO-ROL'-LA, the flower-leaves.

19 PER-EN'-NI-ALS, that continue more than

two years.

10 ES-SEN'-TIAL, necessary; those which 20 EX-HALE', send forth; emit.

constitute the flower.

LESSON XVIII.

HYMN TO THE FLOWERS.

1. YE bright mosaics'!' that with storied2 beauty
The floor of Nature's temple tesselate',3
What numerous emblems of instructive duty
Your forms create'!

2. 'Neath cloistered boughs, each floral bell that swingeth
And tolls its perfume on the passing air',
Makes Sabbath in the fields', and ever ringeth
A call to prayer';

3. Not to the domes5 where crumbling arch and column
Attest the feebleness of mortal hand',

But to that fane," most catholic and solemn,
Which God hath planned';'

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4. To that cathedral, boundless as our wonder,

Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply', Its choir10 the winds and waves', its organ thunder', Its dome' the sky'.

5. There, as in solitude and shade I wander

Through the green aisles,11 or, stretched upon the sod,
Awed by the silence, reverently ponder12
The ways of God'-

6. Your voiceless lips, O flowers! are living preachers',
Each cup a pulpit', and each leaf a book',
Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers
From loneliest nook.13

7. Floral apostles' !14 that in dewy splendor

"Weep without woe, and blush without a crime','
O may I deeply learn, and ne'er surrender,
Your lore15 sublime.

8. Were I, O God'! in churchless lands remaining',
Far from all voice of teachers or divines',
My soul would find, in flowers of thy ordaining',
Priests, sermons, shrines.

1 Mo-sÃ'-1¤s, a collection of little pieces of
glass, marble, etc., of various colors, join-8
ed together so as to represent the colors
of painting. The flowers are here called
mosaics.

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2 "STO-RIED BEAU ́-TY" (stō'-rid), a beauty 10 that speaks; furnished with stories.

3 TES'-SEL-ATE, cover with a mosaic work of flowers.

4 CLOIS'-TERED, pertaining to a monastery; secluded.

5 DOMES, cathedrals; places of worship. 6 AT-TEST', show; prove; make plain.

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HORACE SMITH.

FANE, a temple; a place of worship. CATH'-O-LIC, liberal; designed to embrace all; not bigoted.

€A-THE-DRAL, a grand church or place of worship.

CHOIR (quire), a collection of singers in a church.

AISLES (iles), walks or passages in a
church.

12 PON'-DER, think of; reflect upon.
13 Nook, a corner.

14 A-POS'-TLES (a-pos'-ls), preachers.
15 LORE, learning; lessons; instruction.

LESSON XIX.

VEGETABLE REPRODUCTION-Continued.

STAMENS, PISTIL, FRUIT, AND SEEDS.

Fig. 16.

1. THE STAMENS are situated, in a complete flower, next within the corolla. A perfect stamen consists of two parts, anther and filament. The former is analogous1 to the blade of a leaf, and the latter to the stem. In some cases stāmens are changed into pětals by cultivation, as is seen when what are called single flowers become double. The common white pond-lily affords a good il- Gradual Change of Stalustration of the change of stamens into pětals. The same may be traced in double roses, buttercups, and most double flowers.

Stamens.

mens into Leaves.

2. The top of the stamen, called the anther, is almost always yellow, and contains a yellow powder, called pollen, which, falling upon the pistil, presently to be described, causes the development3 of the germs and the formation of the seed. When the stamens and the pistil grow on different plants, each forming only half of a perfect flower, it is necessary that the plants should grow near each other, so that the pollen, wafted by the wind, may reach the other half of the flower, or no seed will be formed.

3. The PISTIL OCccupies the centre of the flower, being surrounded by the stamens and petals. Its parts are three, ovary, style, and stigma. The ovary occupies the lower part, and incloses a cavity in which the germs of the seed are developed, and finally matured into fruit. The style is usually in the form of a slender thread or column, tapering up from the ovary. The stigma, which is the upper part or termination of the style, receives the pollen from the anthers, and communicates with the germ through a tube in the style. 4. The term FRUIT is much more extensive in its application, speaking botanically, than in common language. The name is given to the enlarged ovary containing the seed, and consists of two parts, the seed and its covering. Fruits, like flowers, exhibit a great variety of forms; for, while some are

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