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diff --git a/77827-0.txt b/77827-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8209e34 --- /dev/null +++ b/77827-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13796 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77827 *** + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have + been placed at the end of the book. + + Chapter headings have been made consistent, with the title on a + single line and the author on the following line. + + Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. + + Volume I of this set of four volumes can be found in Project + Gutenberg at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74571 + + Volume II can be found in Project Gutenberg at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77792 + + + + +[Illustration: Mushrooms and Other Fungi + +1, Boletus Satanus; 2, Agaricus Muscarius; 3, Lycoperdon; 4, +Morchella Esculenta; 5, Belvella; 6, Agaricus Campestris; 7, Phallus; +8, Agaricus Phalloides; 9, Boletus Edulis; 10, Rhizopogon (_Truffle_)] + + + + + THE STORY OF + THE UNIVERSE + + _Told by Great Scientists + and Popular Authors_ + + COLLECTED AND EDITED + + _By_ ESTHER SINGLETON + + Author of “Turrets, Towers and Temples,” “Wonders of Nature,” + “The World’s Great Events,” “Famous Paintings,” Translator + of Lavignac’s “Music Dramas of Richard Wagner” + + _FULLY ILLUSTRATED_ + + + VOLUME III + + THE + EARTH’S + GARMENT: + FLORA + + + P. F. COLLIER AND SON + NEW YORK + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1905 + BY P. F. COLLIER & SON + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Mushrooms and Fungi _Frontispiece_ + + Familiar Trees _Opposite p._ 901 + + Herbs, Useful and Medicinal ” 949 + + Flowers, Curious and Beautiful ” 997 + + Cacti, Rare Flowers, and Fuci ” 1045 + + Cereals and Food Plants ” 1093 + + Bacteria and Vegetable Germs ” 1141 + + Nuts and Fruits ” 1213 + + Lichens ” 1261 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. David Robertson 859 + + FLORA OF THE EARLY MESOZOIC. Sir J. William Dawson 871 + + EXISTING LIFE-FORMS OF PLANTS. Edward Clodd 887 + + PLANT GEOGRAPHY. Louis Figuier 898 + + ZONES OF VEGETATION. M. J. Schleiden 930 + + PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS. Alexander von Humboldt 946 + + THE GENESIS OF FLOWERS. Alexander S. Wilson 957 + + LIFE HISTORY OF PLANTS. E. W. Prevost 968 + + LIFE-FORMS OF PLANTS. Edward Clodd 975 + + CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. Louis Figuier 984 + + FRUITS AND SEEDS. Lord Avebury 1002 + + LEAVES. R. Lloyd Praeger 1016 + + WIND-FERTILIZED FLOWERS. Alexander S. Wilson 1027 + + MOVEMENTS OF PLANTS. David Robertson 1037 + + MOVEMENT IN PLANTS. Charles Darwin 1045 + + FLOWER COLORATION. Alexander S. Wilson 1061 + + QUEER FLOWERS. Grant Allen 1068 + + ATHENA IN THE EARTH. John Ruskin 1077 + + PROGRESS OF CULTIVATION. Alphonse de Candolle 1091 + + VEGETABLE MIMICRY AND HOMOMORPHISM. Alexander S. Wilson 1099 + + THE BAMBOO AND PLANT GROWTH. R. Camper Day 1114 + + THE REIGN OF EVERGREENS. Grant Allen 1125 + + OUR MICROSCOPIC FOES. A. Winkelried Williams 1131 + + FOREST FORMATIONS. M. J. Schleiden 1135 + + THE HIGH WOODS. Charles Kingsley 1146 + + MILK-SAP PLANTS. M. J. Schleiden 1161 + + NUTS. Grant Allen 1174 + + THE CACTUS TRIBE. M. J. Schleiden 1180 + + FUNGI. Hugh Macmillan 1189 + + FAIRY RINGS. A. B. Steele 1204 + + LICHENS. Hugh Macmillan 1208 + + MOSSES. Hugh Macmillan 1220 + + EUROPEAN SEA-WEEDS. P. Martin Duncan 1230 + + SARGASSUM. Cuthbert Collingwood 1263 + + GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 1269 + + + + + THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE + + (VOLUME THREE) + + + + +THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE + + + + + THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM + --DAVID ROBERTSON + + +There is perhaps scarcely any science that can be more within the +reach of the means of the humblest student than the science of +botany. A pocket lens, a sharp penknife, and a book descriptive +of the flora of the district or country where one lives will form +a sufficient equipment to enable the student to name and classify +whatever plants he may meet with in his rambles in search of them. + +It is by no means intended to imply that finding out the names of +plants and being able to classify them constitute the whole science +of botany. The truth is that many of the problems in connection with +classification are most abstruse, so much so that even now the most +recent and generally received system of classification can only be +considered provisional. This is especially the case in regard to the +lower forms of vegetable life. The life-history of many of the most +minute and lowly plants is but imperfectly known, owing to their +extreme minuteness and the different forms which they assume at the +various stages of their life-history. + +This, however, does not detract from the pleasure which any one may +derive from being able to describe and name any flowering plants +which are to be found in any country at certain seasons. + +The dependence of mankind on plants is too obvious to require mention. + +To a large extent the vegetation of a district determines its +character; for without plants no landscape would possess any +particular attractiveness, and every one knows the depressing effect +produced by a barren, treeless waste. The contrast between this and +fields rich in pasture has occurred to every one; and a well-wooded +country never fails to please the eye of the observer. + +Mighty forests, teeming with life, have a powerful influence on the +imagination; and the value of forests both as regards their effect +on climate and their economic importance has been so thoroughly +recognized that in the case of India stringent measures have been +adopted for their preservation. + +Some knowledge of plant life also enables one to guard against the +evil and often fatal effects produced by eating poisonous fruits and +poisonous fungi. + +Some of the lowly organized flowerless plants are man’s most deadly +and insidious enemies. These from their excessive minuteness are +quite invisible to the naked eye. + +Before proceeding further, it will be necessary to give a brief +account of the different parts which go to compose the complete +flowering plant. The reader who desires a full and detailed account +of the different organs of the flowering and flowerless plants will +find this in any standard text-book of botany. + +We will take any full-grown flowering plant and begin with the root. + +The root may be called the descending portion of the axis. + +The ascending portion of the axis is usually supplied with leaves, +flowers, and green coloring matter, whereas the root is usually +devoid of these. + +The root generally penetrates into the soil and fulfils a double +function. + +It is by means of the roots that the plant is attached to the earth +and prevented from being blown about by the winds. + +In the case of large forest trees, the far-spreading roots have an +immense power of resistance. The large surface of a giant tree in +full leaf has to endure an enormous lateral pressure during a high +wind, and even hurricanes may fail to uproot a large tree, which they +may snap asunder. Not only does the root by penetrating the soil +attach the plant to the earth, but it absorbs nourishment from the +soil for the support of the plant. The root, therefore, fulfils a +double function. + +The root is at first furnished with a conical hood of cellular +tissue, _i. e._, tissue consisting entirely of cells or little closed +bags made up of an outside wall and contents. + +The root cup is well seen in some kinds of water-plants, such as +duckweed. + +There are plants whose roots do not descend. Certain plants hang +from the branches of trees, and though they have roots these roots +never penetrate the soil. Plants of this kind are called Epiphytes +(Greek _epi_, upon, and _phyton_, plant). Aerial orchids, which grow +in warm and moist parts of India and other countries, are attached +to branches of trees or other kinds of support, and their roots hang +down from the peculiar stems and are very soft and delicate at the +tips. + +It must be borne in mind that there is no absolute distinction +between root and stem; for some trees have roots which form lateral +buds, viz., _Pyrus japonica_, _Maclura aurantiaca_, and many others. + +This is quite in accordance with the fact that in the organic world +different organs frequently shade into one another. + +The true root of the plant in its earliest state of existence, that +is, as it exists in the seed prior to germination, is the downward +prolongation of the axis. + +In the case of the division of flowering plants called Monocotyledons +(Greek _monos_, single, and _kotyledon_, seed-leaf), and in such +so-called flowerless plants as ferns, the lower end of the axis +soon ceases to grow and the roots which supply these plants with +nourishment are really lateral growths. The roots of plants are +variously named. Sometimes the branches of the roots are small, and +the central axis thick and of considerable length. This kind of root +is named a tap-root, and may be well seen in the carrot. + +In the turnip, beet, and other plants, where this organ is developed +in such a manner as to serve as a reservoir of nutriment, the root is +tuberous. + +Many roots are fibrous; this may be well seen in grasses. + +The perennial woody forms of fibrous roots are very characteristic of +shrubby Dicotyledons (plants with two seed-leaves). + +Leaves are of two kinds, namely, foliage-leaves and flower-leaves. + +A leaf is generally a broad, flat, horizontal surface. It is usually +thin, and can be divided by a perpendicular plane, the median plane, +into two similar halves. + +When the leaves are what is called symmetrical, the parts into which +they are divided are counterparts. + +If one of these parts were held in front of a looking-glass, the +reflected image of this part would represent the part from which it +had been separated. + +Many leaves, however, can not thus be divided. When this is the case +they are said to be unsymmetrical. + +The tropical plant begonia affords an excellent example of an +unsymmetrical leaf. + +The leaves of the spruce are not flat but needle-shaped. + +In rushes and many species of stone-crops the leaves are cylindrical +or round. + +The leaf consists of three parts, viz., the sheath, the stalk or +petiole, and the lamina or blade. The sheath incloses the stem at +the insertion of the leaf, and has a tubular or sheath-like form. It +is well seen in grasses and such plants as celery, corn, parsnip, +carrot, and other plants belonging to the _Umbelliferæ_ [Lat. +_umbella_ (_umbra_, shade), little shade, and _ferre_, to bear]. + +The leaf-stalk is narrow, and has a semi-cylindrical or prismatic +form, bearing at its end the expanded leaf. + +When the stalk is flattened and resembles a leaf, as in the case of +the Australian acacias, it is termed a phyllode (Greek _phyllon_, a +leaf, and _eidos_, form). + +Many leaves have no sheath, but only the stalk and the blade. This is +the case in the maple and gourd. + +The leaves of the grasses have no stalk, but only sheath and blade. + +The blade is often the only part present, as in the tobacco plant and +tiger-lily. Small appendages, looked upon as belonging to the sheath, +are frequently present, and are termed stipules (from Lat. _stipula_, +blade). Leaves having these appendages are called stipulate, and +leaves devoid of them are exstipulate (from Lat. _ex_, privative, +without, and _stipula_, blade). + +A few plants, such as grasses, have a small outgrowth from the inner +upper surface of the leaf at the part where the sheath and the blade +are joined. This outgrowth is named a ligule (from Lat. _ligula_, a +little tongue). + +If a leaf is carefully examined it will be found that the internal +tissues differ in character. The fundamental tissue is generally +green, and is named the messophyll (Greek, _mesos_, or _messos_, +middle, and _phyllon_, leaf). + +It will be seen that bands run through the fundamental tissue called +the veins of the leaf. These veins consist of what are termed +fibro-vascular bundles. They endure longer than the fundamental +tissue, and may frequently be seen after the leaf is withered and +dead, forming the skeleton of the leaf. + +The arrangement of the veins or fibro-vascular bundles is +characteristic of large groups of plants. + +In the narrow linear leaves of grasses the stronger veins run almost +parallel. In broad leaves, such as those of the lily-of-the-valley, +the veins curve, but do not form a network of tracery as in oaks +and other Dicotyledons. The margin of leaves is frequently divided, +but the technical terms used in describing such leaves can be found +in any text-book of botany. They may either be simple or compound. +A simple leaf consists of a single lamina, however much it may be +divided, provided the divisions do not extend to the central vein or +midrib. A leaf is compound when, besides the principal leaf-stalks, +a number of lateral leaf-stalks exist bearing at their ends laminæ. +The leaves of many plants are compound. The sensitive plant (_Mimosa +pudica_) furnishes an excellent example of the compound leaf. + +The characteristic color of foliage leaves is green, and they are so +arranged as to receive as much sunlight as possible. The importance +of the plant receiving a good supply of light will be referred to +when treating of the growth of plants. It is as true of plants as +of animals that the organs most suitable for their surroundings +are so arranged as to be most advantageous to the individual. Had +leaves been placed vertically they would only have received diffused +sunlight instead of the direct rays of the sun. No vegetable life +could exist but for the sun, as plants not only require light but +heat as well. + +When the foliage leaves are small they are very numerous, as may be +seen in conifers; and when these leaves are large they are not nearly +so numerous as, for example, in the sunflower. + +Sometimes leaves may consist of scales. These scales are always found +on stems growing underground, as in the onion; but they sometimes +occur on stems growing above-ground. + +Such plants as _Orobanche_ and _Neottia_ have no other kind of leaves +except scales. + +The leaves are developed very near the apex of the growing stem. + +The portions of the stem which lie between the leaves are termed the +internodes, and the parts where the leaves are inserted are termed +the nodes. + +Leaves are arranged in various ways, intimately connected with the +order of their development. They may be developed so that three or +more are at the same level on the stem; this arrangement is termed a +_whorl_. Or they may be developed singly; this arrangement is termed +_scattered_. For a full account of the various leaf-arrangements any +text-book on botany may be consulted. + +We have here merely referred to some of the more obvious arrangements +of the leaves. + +Certain leaves possess a remarkably abnormal shape; for example, +stone-crops have cylindrical leaves; if the leaf of an agave is cut +across, the section is triangular; leeks, again, are tube-shaped; the +central cavity being due to the rapid growth of the outer tissue. +These leaves are all juicy or succulent; certain other leaves are +leathery, that is, they have a harder and thicker epidermis than the +succulent leaves, and may last for several years, as, for example, in +the holly and box. + +Spines and tendrils are modifications of leaves, or parts of leaves. +The tendrils are formed out of entire leaves, midribs, leaflets, or +stipules. Both spines and tendrils, however, may be modified branches +of the stem. + +In buds the leaves are packed or folded in various ways. This is +best seen before the buds are opened in spring. The buds may then be +pulled carefully to pieces, and in this way the manner in which the +leaves are folded can be studied. + +We now come to the flower. + +Flowers consist of leaves modified in different ways. + +Take, for example, the flower of the orange. The flower will be seen +to be borne on a short branch which serves as the stalk, and is +distinguished by the name of peduncle (from Lat. _pedunculus_, little +stalk). It will be seen that there are no internodes between the +flower-leaves. + +The lowest and outermost part of the flower forms a little cup having +upon its margin fine small teeth, indicating the number of leaves +which are joined together so as to form the cup or calyx. + +These leaves are named (from Lat. _calyx_, a covering; Greek _kalyx_, +from _kalyptein_, to cover) the calyx-leaves, or sepals (French +_sépale_). Although they are united in the flower of the orange, +they are often separate in other plants. + +In the sacred Lotus or Padma or Pudma of India the sepals are +separate or free. The leaves immediately inside the calyx are usually +five in number. They are erect, or only slightly curved, and do +not grow together like the leaves of the calyx. They are white and +wax-like. These leaves form together what is termed the corolla, and +the separate leaves of the corolla (from Lat. _corolla_, a little +wreath) are termed petals (from Greek _petalon_, leaf). In the case +of the orange the petals fall early away. + +If the calyx and petals are carefully removed, the next part of the +flower can be observed. + +This series of flower-leaves differs very much in structure from both +sepals and petals. Each leaf of this series consists of a linear +stalk-like portion, bearing an upper somewhat long and grooved head. +The stalk is named the filament, and the oblong head is named the +anther (Greek _anthos_, a flower). The stalk and the head together +form what is called the stamen (Lat. _stamen_, [Greek _histanai_, +to stand] fibre; literally, the warp in the upright loom of the +ancients). The stamens of the orange are rather shorter than the +petals, and are united to each other. + +When the anther is mature, each of its grooves splits near the edge, +and allows the fine powdery granules which fill the anthers to be +removed by insects or by other means. This fine powder is named the +pollen, and each of the granules composing it is named a pollen +grain. If the stamens are now removed the centre of the flower alone +is left. + +If the lower part of the centre of the flower be cut across, it will +be found to be divided into a large number of cavities containing +the minute rudiments of future seeds. It will be seen that there are +ten cavities, though they may vary in number. The central organ of +the flower is named the pistil (from Lat. _pistillum_, pestle). The +pistil is usually composed of united leaves. + +The separate leaves of the pistil are termed carpels (from Greek +_karpos_, fruit). These leaves are sometimes not combined, as they +are in the orange. The style belongs to the carpel, and varies +considerably in length, as well as in stoutness, in different +flowers. Although the carpels may be united, the styles may remain +completely separate, as, for example, in the pink, or, as in the +fuchsia, they may be combined into a single rod. + +The pollen grains (Lat. fine flour) contained in the anther are +composed of very rich protoplasm (Greek _protos_, first; _plasma_, +formative matter), which usually has in it small drops of oil and +small starch granules. The pollen grains are bounded by two principal +layers, an outer and an inner; the purpose of the outer layer (which +is often provided with thickenings in the shape of knots, spines, +etc.) being to preserve the contents of the grain from evaporation. + +The inner layer is living and capable of growth, and at certain +spots it possesses thickenings which project into the protoplasm. +Opposite to these the external cuticle is frequently thinner, and +this eventually is lifted off as a sort of lid, and through this the +inner substance can grow out, and is then named the pollen tube. + +When the anther lobes open to discharge their pollen grains, these +grains are completely developed. + +The grains fall on the part of the ovary named the stigma (Greek +_stigma_, a puncture made with a sharp instrument; here it means a +sharp point or apex) and the inner layer begins to force its way out. +The tube is produced from the contents of the pollen grain, and is +formed by growth, just as any other part of the plant. The pollen +tube passes down to the ovules, the route depending on the length of +the style. The time taken by the pollen tube to reach the ovary may +amount to a few hours in certain plants, while it needs months in +others. It is necessary that at least one pollen tube should enter +the mouth of the ovule before it can develop into a seed. The seed, +when mature, contains the embryo plant. + +It is not possible for an ovule in numerous cases to be fertilized by +pollen from stamens that grow near it in the same flower. + +It not unfrequently happens that a flower possesses stamens and +no pistil, or a pistil and no stamens. Flowers of this kind are +technically termed diœcious (Greek _dis_, twice, and _oikia_ or +_oikos_, place of abode), if the male and female flowers are on +different plants. The flowers of such plants as oaks and birches +are male and female, but are borne on the same plant, hence termed +monœcious (Greek _monos_, single). The flowers that contain stamens +only are called male flowers, and those containing pistils only are +named female flowers. + +The oaks and birches, as has been stated, have both the male and +female flowers on the same plant, though in other cases the male +flower is borne on one plant and the female flower on another. + +In cases like these the wind carries the pollen from one plant to +another. In wind-fertilized flowers the flower is usually produced +prior to the foliage leaves, or at least before the plant is crowded +with leaves. + +These plants produce an immense amount of pollen. + +Besides the transference of pollen by the agency of the wind, insect +agency plays a very important part. These insect-fertilized plants +are much more conspicuous than those fertilized by the wind. + +There are numerous natural contrivances in plants to prevent +self-fertilization, as this process of self-fertilization is far less +effective in producing seeds than when the ovules are fertilized by +pollen from another plant of the same species. + +In some plants the stigma is mature before the anther, and in such +a case the pollen must be brought from a flower that has bloomed a +little earlier than itself. + + + + + FLORA OF THE EARLY MESOZOIC + --SIR J. WILLIAM DAWSON + + +Great physical changes occurred at the close of the Carboniferous +age. The thick beds of sediment that had been accumulating in long +lines along the primitive continents had weighed down the earth’s +crust. Slow subsidence had been proceeding from this cause in the +coal-formation period, and at its close vast wrinklings occurred, +only surpassed by those of the old Laurentian time. Hence in the +Appalachian region of America we have the Carboniferous beds thrown +into abrupt folds, their shales converted into hard slates, their +sandstones into quartzite and their coals into anthracite, and all +this before the deposition of the Triassic Red Sandstones which +constitute the earliest deposit of the great succeeding Mesozoic +period. In like manner the coal-fields of Wales and elsewhere in +western Europe have suffered similar treatment, and apparently at the +same time. + +This folding is, however, on both sides of the Atlantic limited to a +band on the margin of the continents, and to certain interior lines +of pressure, while in the middle, as in Ohio and Illinois in America, +and in the great interior plains of Europe, the coal-beds are +undisturbed and unaltered. In connection with this we have an entire +change in the physical character of the deposits, a great elevation +of the borders of the continents, and probably a considerable +deepening of the seas, leading to the establishment of general +geographical conditions which still remain, though they have been +temporarily modified by subsequent subsidences and re-elevations. + +Along with this a great change was in progress in vegetable and +animal life. The flora and fauna of the Palæozoic gradually die out +in the Permian and are replaced in the succeeding Trias by those of +the Mesozoic time. Throughout the Permian, however, the remains of +the coal-formation flora continue to exist, and some forms, as the +_Calamites_, even seem to gain in importance, as do also certain +types of coniferous trees. The Triassic, as well as the Permian, was +marked by physical disturbances, more especially by great volcanic +eruptions discharging vast beds and dikes of lava, and layers of +volcanic ash and agglomerate. This was the case more especially +along the margins of the Atlantic, and probably also on those of +the Pacific. The volcanic sheets and dikes associated with the Red +Sandstones of Nova Scotia, Connecticut, and New Jersey are evidences +of this. + +At the close of the Permian and beginning of the Trias, in the +midst of this transition time of physical disturbance, appear the +great reptilian forms characteristic of the age of reptiles, and +the earliest precursors of the mammals, and at this time the old +Carboniferous forms of plants finally pass away, to be replaced by +a flora scarcely more advanced, though different, and consisting +of pines, cycads, and ferns, with gigantic equiseta, which are the +successors of the genus _Calamites_, a genus which still survives +in the early Trias. Of these groups the conifers, the ferns, and +the equiseta are already familiar to us, and, in so far as they are +concerned, a botanist who had studied the flora of the Carboniferous +would have found himself at home in the succeeding period. The cycads +are a new introduction. The whole, however, come within the limits of +the cryptogams and the gymnosperms, so that here we have no advance. + +As we ascend, however, in the Mesozoic, we find new and higher +types. Even within the Jurassic epoch, the next in succession to +the Trias, there are clear indications of the presence of the +endogens, in species allied to the screw-pines and grasses; and the +palms appear a little later, while a few exogenous trees have left +their remains in the Lower Cretaceous, and in the Middle and Upper +Cretaceous these higher plants come in abundantly and in generic +forms still extant, so that the dawn of the modern flora belongs +to the Middle and Upper Cretaceous. It will thus be convenient +to confine ourselves in this chapter to the flora of the earlier +Mesozoic. + +Passing over for the present the cryptogamous plants already familiar +in older deposits, we may notice the new features of gymnospermous +and phænogamous life, as they present themselves in this earlier part +of the great reptilian age, and as they extended themselves with +remarkable uniformity in this period over all parts of the world. For +it is a remarkable fact that, if we place together in our collections +fossil plants of this period from Australia, India, China, Siberia, +Europe, or even from Greenland, we find wonderfully little difference +in their aspect. This uniformity prevailed in the Palæozoic flora; +and it is perhaps equally marked in that of the Mesozoic. Still +we must bear in mind that some of the plants of these periods, as +the ferns and pines, for example, are still world-wide in their +distribution; but this does not apply to others, more especially the +cycads. + +The cycads constitute a singular and exceptional type in the modern +world, and are limited at present to the warmer climates, though +very generally distributed in these, as they occur in Africa, India, +Japan, Australia, Mexico, Florida, and the West Indies. In the +Mesozoic age, however, they were world-wide in their distribution, +and are found as far north as Greenland, though most of the species +found in the Cretaceous of that country are of small size, and may +have been of low growth, so that they may have been protected by the +snows of winter. The cycads have usually simple or unbranching stems, +pinnate leaves borne in a crown at top, and fruits which, though +somewhat various in structure and arrangement, are all of the simpler +form of gymnospermous type. The stems are exogenous in structure, but +with slender wood and thick bark, and barred tissue, or properly as +tissue intermediate between this and the disk-bearing fibres of the +pines. + +The greater part of the cycads of the Mesozoic age would seem to +have had short stems and to have constituted the undergrowth of +woods in which conifers attained to greater height. An interesting +case of this is the celebrated dirt-bed of the quarries of the Isle +of Portland, long ago described by Dean Buckland. In this fossil +soil trunks of pines, which must have attained to great height, are +interspersed with the short, thick stems of cycads, of the genus +named _Cycadoidea_ by Buckland, and which from their appearance are +called “fossil birds’ nests” by the quarrymen. Some, however, must +have attained a considerable height so as to resemble palms. + +The cycads, with their simple, thick trunks, usually marked +with rhombic scars, and bearing broad spreading crowns of large, +elegantly formed pinnate leaves, must have formed a prominent part +of the vegetation of the Northern Hemisphere during the whole of +the Mesozoic period. A botanist, had there been such a person at +the time, would have found this to be the case everywhere from the +equator to Spitzbergen, and probably in the Southern Hemisphere as +well, and this throughout all the long periods from the Early Trias +to the Middle Cretaceous. In a paper published in the _Linnæan +Transactions_ for 1868, Dr. Carruthers enumerates twenty species of +British Mesozoic cycads, and the number might now be considerably +increased. + +The pines present some features of interest. In the Mesozoic we have +great numbers of beautiful trees, with those elegant fan-shaped +leaves characteristic of but one living species, the _Salisburia_, +or gingko-tree of China. It is curious that this tree, though now +limited to eastern Asia, will grow, though it rarely fruits, in most +parts of temperate Europe, and in America as far north as Montreal, +and that in the Mesozoic period it occupied all these regions, and +even Siberia and Greenland, and with many and diversified species. + +_Salisburia_ belongs to the yews, but an equally curious fact applies +to the cypresses. The genus _Sequoia_, limited at present to two +species, both Californian, and one of them the so-called “big tree,” +celebrated for the gigantic size to which it attains, is represented +by species found as far back at least as the Lower Cretaceous, and in +every part of the Northern Hemisphere.[1] It seems to have thriven +in all these regions throughout the Mesozoic and early Kainozoic, and +then to have disappeared, leaving only a small remnant to represent +it in modern days. A number of species have been described from the +Mesozoic and Tertiary, all of them closely related to those now +existing. + +The name itself deserves consideration. It is that of an Indian of +the Cherokee tribe, Sequo Yah, who invented an alphabet without +any aid from the outside world of culture, and taught it to his +tribe by writing it upon leaves. This came into general use among +the Cherokees before the white man had any knowledge of it; and +afterward, in 1828, a periodical was published in this character by +the missionaries. Sequo Yah was banished from his home in Alabama, +with the rest of his tribe, and settled in New Mexico, where he died +in 1843. + +When Endlicher was preparing his synopsis of the conifers, in 1846, +and had established a number of new genera, Dr. Jacbon Tschudi, then +living with Endlicher, brought before his notice this remarkable +man, and asked him to dedicate this red-wooded tree to the memory +of a literary genius so conspicuous among the red men of America. +Endlicher consented to do so, and only endeavored to make the name +pronounceable by changing two of its letters. + +Endlicher founded the genus on the redwood of the Americans, +_Taxodium sempervirens_ of Lamb; and named the species _Sequoia +sempervirens_. These trees form large forests in California, which +extend along the coast as far as Oregon. Trees are there met with of +300 feet in height and 20 feet in diameter. The seeds were brought to +Europe a number of years ago, and we already see in upper Italy and +around the Lake of Geneva, and in England, high trees; but, on the +other hand, they have not proved successful around Zurich. + +In 1852, a second species of Sequoia was discovered in California, +which, under the name of big tree, soon attained a considerable +celebrity. Lindley described it, in 1853, as _Wellingtonia gigantea_; +and, in the following year, Decaisne and Torrey proved that it +belonged to Sequoia, and that it accordingly should be called +_Sequoia gigantea_. + +While the _Sequoia sempervirens_, in spite of the destructiveness of +the American lumbermen, still forms large forests along the coasts, +the _Sequoia gigantea_ is confined to the isolated clumps which are +met with inland at a height of 5,000 to 7,000 feet above sea-level, +and are much sought after by tourists as one of the wonders of the +country. Reports came to Europe concerning the largest of them which +were quite fabulous, but we have received accurate accounts of them +from Professor Whitney. The tallest tree measured by him has a height +of 325 feet, and in the case of one of the trees the number of the +rings of growth indicated an age of about 1,300 years. It had a girth +of 50 to 60 feet. + +We know only two living species of _Sequoia_, both of which are +confined to California. The one (_S. sempervirens_) is clothed with +erect leaves, arranged in two rows, very much like our yew-tree, +and bears small, round cones; the other (_S. gigantea_) has smaller +leaves, set closely against the branches, giving the tree more the +appearance of the cypress. The cones are egg-shaped, and much larger. +These two types are, therefore, sharply defined. + +Both of these trees have an interesting history. If we go back into +the Tertiary, this same genus meets us with a long array of species. +Two of these species correspond to those living at present: the _S. +Langsdorfii_ to the _S. sempervirens_, and the _S. Couttsiæ_ to +the _S. gigantea_. But, while the living species are confined to +California, in the Tertiary they are spread over several quarters of +the globe. + +Let us first consider the _Sequoia Langsdorfii_. This was first +discovered in the lignite of Wetterau, and was described as _Taxites +Langsdorfii_. Heer found it in the upper Rhone district, and there +lay beside the twigs the remains of a cone, which showed that the +_Taxites Langsdorfii_ of Brongniart belonged to the Californian genus +_Sequoia_ established by Endlicher. He afterward found much better +preserved cones, together with seeds, along with the plants of east +Greenland, which fully confirmed the determination. At Atanekerdluk +in Greenland (about 70° north latitude) this tree is very common. +The leaves, and also the flowers and numerous cones, leave no doubt +that it stands very near to the modern redwood. It differs from it, +however, in having a much larger number of scales in the cone. The +tree is also found in Spitzbergen at nearly 78° north latitude, where +Nordenskiöld has collected, at Cape Lyell, wonderfully preserved +branches. From this high latitude the species can be followed down +through the whole of Europe as far as the middle of Italy (at +Senegaglia, Gulf of Spezia). In Asia, also, we can follow it to +the steppes of Kirghisen, to Possiet, and to the coast of the sea +of Japan, and across to Alaska and Sitka. It is recognized by Mr. +Starkie Gardner as one of the species found in the Eocene of Mull in +the Hebrides. It is thus known in Europe, Asia, and America from 43° +to 78° north latitude, while its most nearly related living species, +perhaps even descended from it, is now confined to California. + +With this _S. Langsdorfii_, three other Tertiary species are +nearly related (_S. brevifolia_, Hr., _S. disticha_, Hr., and _S. +Nordenskiöldi_, Hr.). These have been met with in Greenland and +Spitzbergen and one of them has been found in the United States. +Three other species, in addition to these, have been described +by Lesquereux, which appear to belong to the group of the _S. +Langsdorfii_, viz., _S. longifolia_, Lesq., _S. angustifolia_, and +_S. acuminata_, Lesq. Several species also occur in the Cretaceous +and Eocene of Canada. + +These species thus answer to the living _Sequoia sempervirens_; but +we can also point to Tertiary representatives of the _S. gigantea_. +Their leaves are stiff and sharp-pointed, are thinly set round the +branches, and lie forward in the same way: the egg-shaped cones are +in some cases similar. + +There are, however, in the early Tertiary six species, which fill +up the gap between _S. sempervirens_ and _S. gigantea_. They are +the _S. Couttsiæ_, _S. affinis_, Lesq., _S. imbricata_, Hr., _S. +sibirica_, Hr., _S. Heerii_, Lesq., and _S. biformis_, Lesq. Of +these, _S. Couttsiæ_, Hr., is the most common and most important +species. It has short leaves, lying along the branch, like _S. +gigantea_, and small, round cones, like _S. Langsdorfii_ and +_sempervirens_. Bovey Tracey in Devonshire has afforded splendid +specimens of cones, seeds, and twigs, which have been described in +the _Philosophical Transactions_. More lately, Count Saporta has +described specimens of cones and twigs from Armissan. Specimens of +this species have also been found in the older Tertiary of Greenland, +so that it must have had a wide range. It is very like to the +American _S. affinis_, Lesq. + +In the Tertiary there have been found fourteen well-marked species, +which thus include representatives of the two living types, _S. +sempervirens_ and _S. gigantea_. + +We can follow this genus still further back. If we go back to the +Cretaceous age, we find ten species, of which five occur in the +Urgon of the Lower Cretaceous, two in the Middle, and three in the +Upper Cretaceous. Among these, the Lower Cretaceous exhibits the two +types of the _Sequoia sempervirens_ and _S. gigantea_. To the former +the _S. Smithiana_ answers, and to the latter, the _Reichenbachii_, +Gein. The _S. Smithiana_ stands indeed uncommonly near the _S. +Langsdorfii_, both in the appearance of the leaves on the twigs and +in the shape of the cones. These are, however, smaller, and the +leaves do not become narrower toward the base. The _S. pectina_, +Hr., of the Upper Cretaceous, has its leaves arranged in two rows, +and presents a similar appearance. The _S. Reichenbachii_ is a type +more distinct from those now living and those in the Tertiary. +It has indeed stiff, pointed leaves, lying forward, but they are +arcuate, and the cones are smaller. This tree has been known for +a long time, and it serves in the Cretaceous as a guiding star, +which we can follow from the Urgonian of the Lower Cretaceous up to +the Cenomanian. It is known in France, Belgium, Bohemia, Saxony, +Greenland, and Spitzbergen (also in Canada and the United States). It +has been placed in another genus--Geinitzia--but we can recognize, by +the help of the cones, that it belongs to Sequoia. + +Below this, there is found in Greenland a nearly related species, the +_S. ambigua_, Hr., of which the leaves are shorter and broader, and +the cones round and somewhat smaller. + +The connecting link between _S. Smithiana_ and _Reichenbachii_ is +formed by _S. subulata_, Hr., and _S. rigida_, Hr., and three species +(_S. gracilis_, Hr., _S. fastigiata_ and _S. Gardneriana_, Carr.), +with leaves lying closely along the branch, and which come very near +to the Tertiary species _S. Couttsiæ_. We have, therefore, in the +Cretaceous quite an array of species, which fill up the gap between +the _S. sempervirens_ and _gigantea_, and show us that the genus +Sequoia had already attained a great development in the Cretaceous. +This was still greater in the Tertiary, in which it also reached its +maximum of geographical distribution. Into the present world the two +extremes of the genus have alone continued; the numerous species +forming its main body have fallen out in the Tertiary. + +If we look still further back, we find in the Jura a great number +of conifers, and, among them, we meet in the genus Pinus with a +type which is highly developed, and which still survives; but for +Sequoia we have till now looked in vain, so that for the present +we can not place the rise of the genus lower than the Urgonian of +the Cretaceous, however remarkable we may think it that in that +period it should have developed into so many species; and it is +still more surprising that two species already make their appearance +which approach so near to the living _Sequoia sempervirens_ and _S. +gigantea_. + +Altogether, we have become acquainted, up to the present time, with +twenty-six species of Sequoia. Fourteen of these species are found +in the Arctic zone, and have been described and figured in the +_Fossil Flora of the Arctic Regions_. Sequoia has been recognized by +Ettingshausen even in Australia, but there in the Eocene. + +This is, perhaps, the most remarkable record in the whole history of +vegetation. The Sequoias are the giants of the conifers, the grandest +representatives of the family; and the fact that, after spreading +over the whole Northern Hemisphere and attaining to more than twenty +specific forms, their decaying remnant should now be confined to one +limited region in western America[2] and to two species constitutes +a sad memento of departed greatness. The small remnant of _S. +gigantea_ still, however, towers above all competitors as eminently +the “big trees”; but, had they and the allied species failed to +escape the Tertiary continental submergences and the disasters of the +glacial period, this grand genus would have been to us an extinct +type. In like manner the survival of the single gingko of eastern +Asia alone enables us to understand that great series of taxine trees +with fern-like leaves of which it is the sole representative. + +Besides these peculiar and now rare forms, we have in the Mesozoic +many others related closely to existing yews, cypresses, pines, and +spruces, so that the conifers were probably in greater abundance and +variety than they are at this day. + +In this period also we find the earliest representatives of the +endogenous plants. It is true that some plants found in the +coal-formation have been doubtfully referred to these, but the +earliest certain examples would seem to be some bamboo-like and +screw-pine-like plants occurring in the Jurassic rocks. Some of +these are, it is true, doubtful forms, but of others there seems to +be no question. The modern _Pandanus_ or screw-pine of the tropical +regions, which is not a pine, however, but a humble relation of the +palms, is a stiffly branching tree, of a candelabra-like form, and +with tufts of long leaves on its branches, and nuts or great hard +berries for fruit, borne sometimes in larger masses, and so protected +as to admit of their drifting uninjured on the sea. The stems are +supported by masses of aerial roots like those which strengthen the +stems of tree-ferns. These structures and habits of growth fit the +Pandanus for its especial habitat on the shores of tropical islands, +where its masses of nuts are drifted by the winds and currents, and +on whose shores it can establish itself by the aid of its aerial +roots. + +Some plants referred to the cycads have proved veritable botanical +puzzles. One of these, the _Williamsonia gigas_ of the English +oölite, originally discovered by my friend, Dr. Williamson, and +named by him _Zamia gigas_, a very tall and beautiful species, found +in rocks of this age in various parts of Europe, has been claimed +by Saporta for the Endogens, as a plant allied to _Pandanus_. Some +other botanists have supposed the flowers and fruits to be parasites +on other plants, like the modern _Rafflesia_ of Sumatra, but it is +possible that after all it may prove to have been an aberrant cycad. + +The tree-palms are not found earlier than the Middle Cretaceous. In +like manner, though a few Angiosperms occur in rocks believed to +be Lower or Lower Middle Cretaceous in Greenland and the Northwest +Territory of Canada, and in Virginia, these are merely precursors of +those of the Upper Cretaceous, and are not sufficient to redeem the +earlier Cretaceous from being a period of pines and cycads. + +On the whole, this early Mesozoic flora, so far as known to us, has +a monotonous and mean appearance. It no doubt formed vast forests +of tall pines, perhaps resembling the giant Sequoias of California; +but they must for the most part have been dark and dismal woods, +probably tenanted by few forms of life, for the great reptiles of +this age must have preferred the open and sunny coasts, and many of +them dwelt in the waters. Still we must not be too sure of this. The +berries and nuts of the numerous yews and cycads were capable of +affording much food. We know that in this age there were many great +herbivorous reptiles, like _Iguanodon_ and _Hadrosaurus_, some of +them fitted by their structure to feed upon the leaves and fruits of +trees. There were also several kinds of small herbivorous mammals, +and much insect life, and it is likely that few of the inhabitants of +the Mesozoic woods have been preserved as fossils. We may yet have +much to learn of the inhabitants of these forests of ferns, cycads, +and pines. We must not forget in this connection that in the present +day there are large islands, like New Zealand, destitute of mammalia, +and having a flora comparable with that of the Mesozoic in the +Northern Hemisphere, though more varied. We have also the remarkable +example of Australia, with a much richer flora than that of the early +Mesozoic, yet inhabited only by non-placental mammals, like those of +the Mesozoic. + +The principal legacy that the Mesozoic woods have handed down to our +time is in some beds of coal, locally important, but of far less +extent than those of the Carboniferous period. Still, in America, +the Richmond coal-field in Virginia is of this age, and so are the +anthracite beds of the Queen Charlotte Islands, on the west coast +of Canada, and the coal of Brora in Sutherlandshire. Valuable beds +of coal, probably of this age, also exist in China, India, and +South Africa; and jet, which is so extensively used for ornament, is +principally derived from the carbonized remains of the old Mesozoic +pines. + + + + + EXISTING LIFE-FORMS OF PLANTS + --EDWARD CLODD + + +Plants are divided into two main groups or sub-kingdoms: I, +_Cryptogams_ (Greek _Kruptos_, hidden; _gamos_, marriage), or +flowerless; II, _Phanerogams_ (Greek _phaneros_, open; _gamos_, +marriage), or flowering. + +I. The _Cryptogams_ comprise as their leading representatives: 1. +Algæ, Fungi, Lichens; 2. Liverworts, Mosses; 3. Ferns, Horsetails, +Club-mosses. + +The feature common to these is the absence of any conspicuous organs; +_i. e._, true flowers with stamens and pistils for the production of +seeds or fruits. The simplest or single-celled plants increase by +subdivision, each cell carrying on an independent life and repeating +the process of division. But sexuality is manifest in plants very +low down in the scale, the mode of reproduction varying a good deal +in different species. In some cryptogams it is almost as complex as +in the flowering plants, but notwithstanding the different kinds of +sexual organs, there is this fundamental resemblance between them, +that the union of the contents of two cells, a male or sperm-cell, +and a female or germ-cell, each of which is by itself incapable of +further development, is essential to the production of the embryo or +seed. + +The lowest cryptogams have no stems, leaves, or roots. They are +congregations of simple fibreless cells united in rows, or gathered +round one another, spreading on all sides. At the bottom of the scale +of plant life are the _Algæ_, comprising some 10,000 species, from +the minute fresh-water desmids, one-millionth of an inch in length, +with their whip-like cilia, the two-hundredth millionth of an inch +long, to the giant sea-weeds or tangles, hundreds of feet in length, +that cover thousands of square miles of ocean. The green scum of +stagnant ponds; the waving filaments in streams; the shell-coated +microscopic diatoms that people the ocean, tingeing its depths with +olive green, nourishing the whales that play therein, and whose +skeletons form deposits hundreds of miles in length; the rose and +purple weeds that flourish in shallow seas, and are cast upon their +shores, are all members of a group which is perhaps the venerablest +of living things. For although their generally fragile forms have +been fatal to their preservation as fossils, there is little doubt +that the algæ flourished in dense masses in primeval oceans, and were +the chief, if not the sole, representatives of plant-life on the +earth during millions of centuries. Like the foraminifera and other +low animal organisms, they illustrate the persistency of the earlier +forms, in virtue of their simplicity of structure, despite changing +conditions, whereas the more complex structures, by reason of the +greater delicacy of their parts, can less readily adapt themselves to +altered surroundings, and therefore have a much narrower distribution +both in time and space. + +Next to the algæ in ascending order are those fantastic products of +decay, the quick-growing, short-lived _Fungi_, animal-like in their +mode of nutrition, plant-like in their fixity; then the _Lichens_, +which, it is now generally agreed, are composite plants, being a +special kind of parasite fungi growing on algæ. These are widely +spread, living after the adaptive manner of simple forms, where +nothing else can live, unwithered by the heat, unsmitten by the +frost; redeeming the earth’s desolate places, from treeless desert +flats far as the lines of enduring snow; spreading their flowerless +patches of richest colors in metallic-like stain over rock and ruin; +incrusting the trees with tint of freshness or touch of age, with +hoary fringe or mock hieroglyph; and in their decay yielding rich +soil wherein fern and flowering tree may strike root. + +In the _Mosses_, whose glossy, many-colored masses weave softest +carpet over the earth, sharing in the service rendered by the humble +lichens, the cells have become more developed into rudimentary +root, stem, and leaf, manifesting still further transition toward +unlikeness in parts due to division of function. But the structure is +still cellular--_i. e._, there are no tissues and fibres. The mosses +represent the intermediate form between the lowest and the highest +cryptogams, between the green algæ--out of which the liverworts were +probably developed--and the ferns, which arose out of liverworts. + +In the _Ferns_, the larger number of cells have joined together to +form fibrous vessels, lengthening of thickening in varying shape +and texture, according to the functions to be discharged by them, +resulting in the woody tissue which enters into the structure of +all the higher plants. The cells which are thus converted into +tissue cease to grow; the formative protoplasm becomes the formed, +having given up its life for the plant, and locked up in the +compacted material a store of energy for service both within the +plant and by the agency of the plant. The ferns and club-mosses and +horsetails of the present day are the dwarfed representatives of +the stately and luxuriant, although sombre, flowerless trees that +composed the dense jungles of green vegetation in the _Devonian_ and +succeeding _Primary_ periods. These are distinguished as the Era +of Fern Forests, during which our fossil fuel was chiefly formed; +and although the palm-like vegetation of the tropics more nearly +approaches its _Devonian_ prototype, it falls far behind it in size +and abundance. + +II. The _Phanerogams_ have their flowers with stamens and pistils +conspicuous, and are divided, according to the formation of their +seeds, into: + +1. _Gymnosperms_, or naked-seeded, the ovules not being inclosed +within a seed-vessel or ovary, but carried upon a cone, as in pines +and allied species. + +2. _Angiosperms_, or cover-seeded, the ovules being inclosed within +an ovary. + +This group is subdivided into (_a_) plants having one seed-leaf from +which they are developed, as palms, lilies, orchids, grasses; and +into (_b_) plants having two seed-leaves, as oaks, beeches, and all +trees and shrubs not included in the foregoing species. + +In naked-seeded plants the pollen or male element falls on the +exposed ovules; in cover-seeded plants it falls on the stigma, passes +down the pistil into the seed-vessel, and enters the ovule through an +opening in it called the microphyle, or “little gate.” + +While the gymnosperms are, on the one hand, most nearly allied in +the order of descent to ferns, the sombre flowers which they bear +giving them, only by strict botanical classification, a place among +phanerogams, they are, on the other hand, more complex in structure +than the single seed-leaf plants, because their bark, wood, and pith +are clearly defined, as in the double seed-leaf plants. Their lowest +representatives comprise the cycads or palm-ferns, so called from +their resemblance to palms, for which, with their crown of feathery +leaves, they are often mistaken. Next in order is the much more +varied and widely distributed conifer family, notably pines, firs, +and larches, and, lesser in importance, cedars and cypresses. A still +higher class, various in its modes of growth, marks the transition, +to angiosperms, the flowers of both having many features in common. + +The single seed-leaf angiosperms have no visible separation of their +woody stuff into bark, stem, and pith, and have no rings of growth, +the wood exhibiting an even surface, dotted over with small dark +points. Their leaves have parallel veins or “nerves,” as in the +onion and tulip, and the blossom-leaves, or petals, are grouped in +threes or multiples of three. Among their several representatives we +may single out the lilies for their beauty and fragrance, and the +cereals for their value and importance, both classes being in near +connection, since the grasses from which man has developed wheat, +barley, oats, rice, and maize are, in a botanical sense, degenerate +descendants of the lily family. + +The double seed-leaf plants include all the highest and most +specialized varieties. Bark, stem, pith, and concentric rings of +growth are clearly defined; the leaves are netted-veined, and the +petals grouped in fours or fives or multiples of these numbers. The +lowest class, represented by the catkin-bearers, as the birch and +alder, the poplar and the oak, and by plants allied to the nettle and +to the laurel, are nearly related to the highest gymnosperms. Next in +order are the crown-bearers, or flowers with corollas, as the rose +family, which includes most of our fruit yielders, from strawberries +to apples; while the highest and most perfect of all are plants in +which the petals are united together in bell-shape or funnel fashion. +Such are the convolvulus and honeysuckle, the olive and ash, and at +the top of the plant-scale, the family of which the daisy is the +most familiar representative. Its position among plants corresponds +to man’s position among animals. As he, in virtue of being the most +complex and highly specialized, is at their head, albeit many exceed +him in bulk and strength, so is the daisy with its allies, for like +reasons, above the giants of the forest. + +The primary function for which the organs of plants known as flowers +exists is not that which man has long assumed. He once thought +that the earth was the centre of the universe until astronomy +dispelled the illusion, and there yet lingers in him an old _Adam_ +of conceit that everything on the earth has for its sole end and +aim his advantage and service. Evolution will dispel that illusion. +But our delight in the colors and perfumes of flowers will not be +lessened, while wonder will have larger field for play in learning +that the colored leaves known as flowers, together with their scent +and honey, have been developed in furtherance of nature’s supreme +aim--the preservation and increase of the species. And truly the +contrivances to secure this which are manifest in plant-life are +astounding even to those who perceive most clearly the unity of +function which connects the highest and lowest life-forms together. +It is difficult, nay, wellnigh impossible, to deny the existence of a +rudimentary consciousness in the efforts of certain plants to secure +fertilization. Take, for example, the well-known aquatic plant, +_Vallisneria spiralis_. When the male flowers detach themselves and +float about the water, the female flowers develop long spiral stalks +by which to reach them, and become fertilized by the discharge of +pollen on their pistils. Most flowers have their male and female +organs within the same petals, and in some cases fertilize themselves +by scattering the pollen from the bursting stamens on the stigma or +head of the pistil. But nature is opposed to this; “tells us in the +most emphatic manner that she abhors perpetual self-fertilization,” +with its resultant puny and feeble offspring; and we find a number +of contrivances to prevent this, and to secure fertilization by the +pollen of another plant, to the abiding gain all round of the plant, +whose blood, as we may say, is thus mixed with that of a stranger. +Two agencies--insects and the wind--undesignedly effect this; while +in the dispersion of the matured seed, birds and other animals play +an important, although equally unconscious, part. + +Plants which are wind-fertilized have no gayly colored petals or +sepals, and do not secrete water. Such are the naked-seeded groups +whose sombre flowers are borne on dull brown cones; and, among +cover-seeded groups, grasses and rushes, with their feathery flowers; +and willows and birches, with their long waving clusters of catkins. +All of these provide against the fitfulness of the wind, which is +as likely to blow the pollen one way as another, by producing it in +large quantities. + +Plants which are insect-fertilized seek to attract their visitors +by secreting honey and developing colored floral organs. The way in +which this came about is probably as follows: + +The common idea about flowers is that they are made up of petals +and sepals, whereas the _essential_ parts are the stamens and +pistils--_i. e._, the male, or pollen-producing organs, and the +female, or seed-containing organs. The earliest flowers consisted of +these alone, having no colored whorl of petals within another colored +whorl of sepals, but were only scantily protected by leaves, as are +many extant species. These the food-seeking insects then, as now, +visited for the sake of the pollen, to the detriment of the plant, +which lost the fertilizing stuff and gained nothing in return. To +arrest this, certain plants began, especially when in the act of +flowering, to secrete honey and store it in glands or nectaries, +or near their seed-vessels, where the insects could not get at it +without covering their bodies with some of the pollen, which they +rubbed on the pistils of the plant next visited, and thus fertilized +the ovule, provided that the plants were nearly related. Honey is +sweeter to the taste than pollen, and the plants that produced the +most honey stood the better chance of visits from insects, and +therefore of fertilization, to the advantage of this species over +others. As a rule, those which secrete honey have hairy coverings +at the base of the petals, or other contrivances to prevent it +being washed out by the rain or dew, or seized by useless insects, +and we find curious interrelations established between plants and +their desired visitors. Certain flowers adapt themselves to certain +insects, and _vice versâ_, as where the plant has secreted the +honey at the bottom of a long tube and the insect has developed a +correspondingly long proboscis to gather it. By these and kindred +devices the pollen is preserved for its sole function, the energy +of the plant being conserved in the smaller quantity which it has +to produce. As the honey was secreted as counter-attraction to the +pollen, so the colored floral envelopes were developed to attract +the insects, to the honey-secreting plant, and those floral whorls, +both of petals and sepals, are modified or transformed stamens +which have exchanged their function of pollen-producers for that of +insect-allurers. And as both stamens and pistils are leaves aborted +or modified for the special function of reproduction, Goethe’s +well-known generalization that the leaf is the type of the plant has +a large measure of truth in it. + +But before speaking further about color-development in plants, it may +be useful to say a little about color itself. Since everything is +black in the dark, and moreover has no color in itself, it follows +that color is in some way a property of light. Now light, which is +itself invisible, is due to vibrations or oscillations set up in all +directions by any luminous body--whether the sun or a rushlight--in +the ethereal medium which pervades all space, and is composed of +rays of different refrangibilities--_i. e._, change of direction +in passing from one medium to another. White light is due to a +combination of all these rays, ranging through innumerable gradations +of color, from red to violet, and it is to the absence of one or +more of them that the infinite variety of colors is due. If a body +is quite opaque, or otherwise so constituted as to absorb none of +the rays, it appears white; if it absorbs them all it appears black; +if it absorbs green, blue, and violet, and not red, it appears red; +if it absorbs red, orange, and violet and returns or reflects green, +it appears green. The colors which bodies reflect are therefore +regulated by their structure; the way in which their molecules are +arranged determines the number and character of the light vibrations +or ether waves which are returned to the eye and which rule the color +we see--_e. g._, charcoal and the diamond are both pure carbon; the +dull opacity of the one and the trembling splendor of the other are +solely due to the arrangement of the several molecules of each. + +It is thus obvious that any change in the nature or structure of a +thing is accompanied by change in its color, and to this cause the +various pigments in plants are to be referred. + +All growth involves expenditure of the energy which the plant has +stored within itself, and which becomes active when the hydrocarbons +combine with oxygen, resulting in cellular change, and appearance of +other colors than the green, which is due to chlorophyl. Thus may be +explained the color of sprouting buds and young shoots and the more +or less intensified colors of leaves and flowers--one and all due to +oxidation, the minutest changes inducing subtle variations in color. + +Whichever plants made the most show of color would the sooner catch +the eye of insects, however dim their perception of the difference +in colors might be, and would thus get fertilized before plants +which made less display. Thus have insects been the main cause in +the propagation of flowering plants; the plants in return developing +the color-sense in insects. The flower nourishes the insect, the +insect propagates the flower. Other contrivances to meet the need +for fertilization might be cited, as the markings upon the petals +to guide the insect to the nectary; the exhalation of scent by +inconspicuous flowers, or by such as would attract visitors at night, +and so forth; but enough has been adduced to show what is the chief, +if not the sole, function discharged by flowers--the attraction +of insects to aid in securing cross-fertilization. Nor does the +provision stop here. The fertilized seed is not left to chance, +but, like the fertilizing pollen, is intrusted to secondary agents, +to the care of the birds and the breezes. Where not scattered by +the bursting of the ovary it is winged with gossamer shafts, as +in the dandelion, and carried by the wind, floated on gentlest +zephyr or rushing storm to a genial soil. Such wind-wafted seeds, +like wind-fertilized flowers, are rarely colored; neither are the +seeds of the larger trees, since their abundance ensures notice by +food-seeking animals; nor the nuts, which are protected by shelly +coats. But other seeds inwrap themselves in sweet pulpy masses, +called fruits, whose skins brighten as they ripen, and attract the +eye of fruit-loving birds and beasts. The seeds pass through their +stomachs undigested, and are scattered by them in their flight over +wide areas. As with the brightest-hued and sweetest-scented flowers, +so it is with the brightest and juiciest fruits; they sooner attract +the visitor whose services they need, and thus gain advantage over +less-favored members of their species, developing by the selective +action of their devourers into the finest and pulpiest kinds. + + + + + PLANT GEOGRAPHY + --LOUIS FIGUIER + + +We can distinguish in Europe three great botanical regions. 1. The +region of the North; 2. The Middle region; and 3. The region of the +South, or Mediterranean. + +The Northern region comprehends Lapland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and +the northern provinces of Russia. The vegetation is monotonous; the +ligneous species form only the one-hundredth part of the plants; +the cryptogams predominate. The trees are principally coniferous +and amentaceous. The oak, the hazel, and poplar are arrested at +60° N. lat.; the beech, the ash, and the lime at 63°; the conifers +at 67°; barley and oats can be cultivated up to 70°. Spitzbergen, +the most northerly island of Europe, situated between 76° 30′ and +81°, contains only ninety-three species of phanerogamous plants, +belonging principally to the families of _Graminaceæ_, _Cruciferæ_, +_Caryophyllaceæ_, _Saxifragaceæ_, _Ranunculaceæ_, and _Compositæ_. +Among these plants there is scarcely a single tree or shrub, but only +an under-shrub, _Empetrum nigrum_, and two small creeping willows. + +Martius, to whom botanical geography is indebted for many valuable +observations, made a voyage along the western coast of Norway, from +Drontheim to North Cape, in recording which he has traced with a +vigorous hand the picturesque vegetation of that country. “While +disembarking I was much surprised to see cherry-trees bearing fruit +about the size of peas. Lilac, mountain ash, black currant, and _Iris +germanica_ were covered with expanding flowers. My astonishment +ceased, however, when I learned that the spring had been a very fine +one. The most common tree in the gardens and streets is the mountain +ash. I remarked also four oaks (_Quercus Robur_), which appeared to +suffer from the cold; in fact, upon the west coast of Norway the +northern limit of the oak lies half a degree south of Drontheim. The +ash is a more hardy tree, but it never attains the dimensions of the +oak in Sweden, and in latitude 61° 18′ I noted the last of them. The +lime lives at Drontheim, as do the poplar (_P. balsamifera_) and the +horse chestnut; the lilac blooms in every garden. All fruit trees can +only be cultivated as espaliers. Even in the most favored situations, +the apple, pear, and plum do not ripen every year. In the environs of +Drontheim, groups of elder, birch, fir, intermingled with ash, maple, +aspen, bird-cherry, hazel, juniper, and willow crown the heights. The +fields are dry and well exposed, while the meadows occupy the lower +ground. + +“Toward the north I pushed on to Cape Ladehamer, which is crowned +with light-foliaged birches. In the fields and by the roadsides I +found a great many plants which occupy similar situations in France. +Nevertheless,” he continues further on, “the eye of the botanist +was rejoiced by the sight of a vegetation belonging at once to the +Flora of the Boreal regions of the Alps and of the seashore.” In the +thickets grow _Geranium sylvaticum_, _Aquilegia vulgaris_, _Aconitum +septentrionale_, _Pedicularis lapponica_, _Trientalis europæa_, +_Paris quadrifolia_; in the less sheltered places, _Cornus suecica_, +_Vaccinium Vitis-idæa_, _Polygonum viviparum_; in the marshes, the +Bleaberry and _Geum rivale_; upon the sandy seashore, _Plantago +maritima_, _Glaux maritima_, _Elymus arenarius_, _Triglochin +maritimum_, and many others equally interesting to the botanist. + +[Illustration: Six Familiar Tree Forms + +1. Willow; 2. Oak; 3. Sycamore; 4. Cedar; 5. Chestnut; 6. Olive] + +“At Bodoë, in 67° 16′,” he continues, “I saw for the first +time houses covered with turf, upon which grew many tufts of +grass. According to my custom, I first examined the cultivated +vegetables, but I saw only a few potatoes, peas, radishes, a few +gooseberry-trees without fruit, and some fields of barley and rye. In +the meadows just above the sea-level I found some plants which would +have demonstrated to me, in the absence of other proofs, how much the +climate of this country approaches that of the most elevated Alpine +regions. + +“At Hammerfest, which is under 70° 48′ north latitude, all attempts +at cultivation had disappeared. The energies of the place are turned +to commerce; it is from curiosity rather than for profit or utility +that a few vegetables are cultivated. + +“Near the city I observed rich meadows, that were cut once a year, +and some herds of half-wild reindeer, which grazed and roamed +about freely. We shall deceive ourselves, however, if we consider +Hammerfest a dull or melancholy city. Its principal streets, on the +contrary, consist of very fair new wooden houses, well ordered, +and in all respects comfortable. These are the habitations of the +better class of inhabitants. The houses of the lower classes are +poorer and older; borrowing, however, a particular charm from the +flowery turf with which they are covered. The roofs are formed of +great squares of turf, on which a number of plants have germinated +and grow vigorously. In seeing these aerial gardens I have for the +first time been able to comprehend the phrase ‘_in tectis_’, which +often occurs in the writings of Linnæus, indicative of the locality. +In short, it was upon the roofs of houses that the learned botanist +of Upsala herborized at Hammerfest; indeed, I frequently borrowed +a ladder myself from the proprietor in order to gather the plants +which grew round the chimney of one of these picturesque old houses. +What I often found there were _Cochlearia anglica_, _Lychnis diurna_, +_Chrysanthemum inodorum_, Shepherd’s Purse, _Poa pratensis_, and _P. +trivialis_. In autumn, when the flowers of _Chrysanthemum inodorum_ +are in full bloom, these hanging meadows rival in beauty those of +our own more genial climate, and give the city a smiling physiognomy +which contrasts most happily with the severe aspect of surrounding +Nature. _Ranunculus glacialis_, _Arabis alpina_, _Silene acaulis_, +_Saxifraga nivalis_, Bilberries, _Diapensia lapponica_, _Salix +reticulata_, _S. herbarcea_, etc., grow in the neighborhood. + +“How great was my surprise on landing at the North Cape, in latitude +71°, to find myself in the middle of the richest subalpine meadows +that can be imagined! high and tufted grass, which reached my knees. +I found here, in short, at the northern extremity of Europe, the +flowers which had so often attracted my admiration at the foot of +the Swiss Alps; there they were, as vigorous, as brilliant, and much +larger than among the mountains.” + +The mid-European region includes southern Russia, Germany, Holland, +Belgium, Switzerland, the Tyrol, and the British Isles, Upper Italy, +and the greater part of France. This region, whose exact limits it +would be difficult to trace, is very different from the preceding. It +is milder, more temperate; its woods and forests consist essentially +of oak (_Quercus Robur_), to which we may add chestnut, beech, +birch, elm, hornbeam, alder, etc.; but the oak predominates. These +trees, all of which lose their leaves during winter, give to the +landscape a very peculiar feature, varying with the season. This +region is especially favorable to the cultivation of the cereals. An +oblique line, drawn from east to west, with certain inflections of +its course, but ranging between the forty-seventh and forty-eighth +parallel, and inclining a little toward the north, would divide it +into two zones--one, the Northern, in which the vine and the mulberry +yield to the rigor of winter, whose forests are chiefly composed of +conifers, where the culture of the apple and pear takes their place, +and which includes more _Cyperacæ_, _Rosaceæ_, and _Cruciferæ_; the +other, the Southern, characterized by the culture of the vine, the +mulberry, and the maize, and in which _Labiatæ_ begin to predominate. + +In the Southern region, the Mediterranean forms the centre. It +is a vast basin, whose shores present a vegetation which, if not +identical, is at least analogous in its whole extent. _Labiatæ_ +abound there, and in certain seasons the air is filled with their +sweet perfume. To this extensive family we may add a large number +of _Caryophyllaceæ_, _Cistaceæ_, _Liliacæ_, and _Boraginaceæ_. The +Mediterranean draws its distinctive character, however, from the vast +extent of uncultivated country, where the kermes oak, _Phillyrea_, +the evergreen oak, and various half frutescent Labiatæ, reign +supreme. These plants more especially abound in Italy, Spain, Greece, +Algeria, and in the northern portion of Asia Minor. Nevertheless, +a new vegetation makes its appearance at Rhodes and Jaffa, which +becomes closely connected with that of Egypt. The vegetation +of the Mediterranean often presents itself with a smiling and +agreeable aspect. Clumps of odorous myrtles, _Arbutus_, and _Vitex +Agnus-castus_, frequently occur on its shores; magnificent oleanders, +whose praises have been sung by the poets, occupy the edges of the +brooks. In Italy, Sicily, and Spain, the orange-trees bear without +cessation flowers and fruit. The prickly pear (_Opuntia vulgaris_), +and the American _Agave_, naturalized here, form impenetrable hedges +in the southern parts of these countries, to which they give a marked +and very characteristic landscape. The forests consist essentially +of the evergreen oak (_Quercus Ilex_), whose persistent leaves +remain until after their third year, and whose acorns, which have a +very agreeable taste, form a considerable portion of the people’s +food, and of the cork-tree (_Quercus Suber_), mixed with other +characteristic trees and shrubs, such as _Erica arborea_, numerous +species of _Cistus_, with ephemeral flowers, often large and of +dazzling brilliance, and of _Cytisus_, _Genista_, etc. + +Among the other species characteristic of these happy regions we may +cite the cypress (_Cupressus_), the Aleppo pine, the stone pine, +planes, the olive, which we scarcely meet with elsewhere; mastic-tree +(_Pistacia lentiscus_), and the pomegranate (_Ceratona Siliqua_), etc. + +Over a great part of the south coast of Sicily, a palm, the +_Chamærops humilis_, with fan-like foliage, waves sometimes beside +the date, from the bosom of a clump of oranges and citrons, its tall +stipe crowned with an elegant panicle of drooping and feather-like +leaves. + +It would require a volume to give even an idea of the rich and varied +vegetation of Asia. We must limit ourselves to a rapid glance of the +features most characteristic of its Northern, Central, and Southern +divisions. + +The Northern region, or Siberia, forms a botanical region in close +connection with the northern region of Europe in the one direction, +and with its own middle region in the other. It has its own peculiar +character, nevertheless, from the predominance of certain families, +such as _Leguminosæ_, _Ranunculaceæ_, _Cruciferæ_, _Liliaceæ_, +and _Umbelliferæ_. Some genera are remarkable for the number of +their species; we may quote _Astragalus_ among the _Leguminosæ_; +_Spiræa_ among the _Rosaceæ_; and _Artemisia_ among the _Compositæ_. +Considering that the mean temperature varies from 29° to 46° Fahr., +we can not reckon on a condition of vegetation very varied. Forests +are formed by larch, spruce, _Pinus Cembra_, _P. sibirica_, _P. +sylvestris_, etc.; white and balsam poplars and isolated balsamic +plants, dwarf birches, service-trees, alder buckthorn, alders, +willows, accompany them, while whortleberries and rhododendrons form +the under-shrubs. The flora of the steppes of Kamtchatka does not +differ materially from that of the pasturages of central Europe. +According as the spectator expects these to be rich or sterile, he +is the more or less surprised to find stately tulips and graceful +irises mingling with the grassy turf in spring, but the wormwood +(_Artemisia_) and other monotonous forms of vegetation succeed them. + +Humboldt assigns to the forests of the Ural the vegetation +characteristic of a park. “They present,” he says, “an alternation +consisting of a mixture of needle-leaved and round-leaved trees, +and lawns; an assemblage which is completed by masses of brushwood, +formed by wild roses, honeysuckles, and junipers, while _Hesperis_, +_Polemonium_, _Cortusa_, _Mathioli_, magnificent primroses, and +larkspurs form a perfect carpet of flowers; while the water buckbean, +with white blossoms, is the grace of the marshes.” He saw also +“on the banks of the Irtisch great spaces entirely colored red by +_Epilobium_, with which were associated tall-stemmed larkspurs +(_Delphinium_), with blue flowers, and the fiery-scarlet _Lychnis +chalcedonica_.” + +The Central region consists of northern China and Japan. The +magnolias--those grand-leaved trees, with magnificent flowers and +delicate aroma, which give such an attractive feature to gardens +where they can be cultivated--are natives of this vast region. So +is the camellia, which has been, as it were, naturalized in the +greenhouses of Europe, whose evergreen, glossy, and persistent +foliage is the admiration of travelers, and of which we may reckon +upward of 700 varieties; and the tea-plant (_Camellia Thea_), of +whose leaves so many millions of pounds are annually imported into +Europe. Also the _Aucuba_, with coriaceous leaves and clustered +flowers, so ornamental in our gardens and shrubberies; _Celastrus_, +hollies, spindle-tree, _Lagerströmia_, _Spiræa_, _Elæagnus_, etc. + +The most remarkable trees and shrubs besides these are the palm, +_Raphis flabelliformis_; the paper mulberry (_Broussonetia +papyrifera_); _Osmanthus_, whose flowers are employed to give flavor +to tea leaves; the ebony-tree (_Diospyros Kaki_), with white flowers, +and berries of a cherry-red, and of a delicious flavor; the loquat +(_Eriobotrya japonica_); _Salisburia adiantifolia_, which is planted +round the temples; yews (_Taxus nucifera_ and _verticillata_); +cypress (_Cupressus japonica_); junipers, thujas, oaks (_Quercus +glabra_ and _glauca_); _Alnus japonica_, _Juglans nigra_, and several +species of laurels and maples. + +Among the cultivated plants we find rice, wheat, barley, oats, +_Sorghum vulgare_, Sago (_Cycas revoluta_), taro (_Caladium +esculentum_), _Convolvulus Batatas_, apple, pear, quince, plum, +apricot, peach, orange, radish, cucumber, gourds, watermelons, anise +(_Pimpinella Anisum_), peas, beans, hemp, and cotton (_Gossypium +herbaceum_)--a remarkable mingling of vegetable productions, which +transports us at one moment from Asia to Europe, and at the next from +America to Asia. We might dwell upon a crowd of ornamental plants, +many of which are now well known in Europe, as the _Glycine_, the +lily of Japan, tiger lily, and Chinese primrose. + +The Southern region of Asia comprehends the two Indian peninsulas. +Here non-tropical species disappear, or only present themselves very +rarely. Tropical families become more numerous; the trees cease to +lose their leaves; ligneous species are more numerous than without +the tropics; the flowers are larger, more magnificent; climbing, +creeping, and parasitic plants increase in number and size. India +may be considered the true country of aromatic plants. Nor is the +rich soil less fruitful in the production of suitable timber for +constructive purposes. + +Among the most abundant arborescent plants in this botanical region +are _Bombax_, _Sapindus_, _Mimosa_, _Acacia_, _Cassia_, _Jambosa_, +_Gardenia_; ebony (_Diospyros Ebenus_) has been celebrated for its +black-colored solid wood from the most ancient times; _Bignonia_; +teak (_Tectona grandis_), is a magnificent tree, which furnishes +timber well adapted for building purposes from its great endurance; +_Isonandra Gutta_ produces _gutta-percha_; laurels have an aromatic +bark; the nutmeg-tree (_Myristica_) produces seeds which are employed +as spice; figs (_Ficus religiosa_, _indica_, _elastica_); palms, such +as the Borassus (_Borasus flabelliformis_) with magnificent large +fan-like leaves; _Sagus_, whose soft pulp yields sago, a farinaceous +product very rich in starch; _Calamus_, whose twining and creeping +stem is sometimes upward of 500 feet in length, of one uniform +thickness, and of which the canes used in Europe are made; areca +(_Areca Catechu_), the nut of which is a favorite masticatory with +the natives; _Corypha umbraculifera_, the trunk of which, sometimes +reaching the height of sixty or seventy feet, is crowned with an +ample tuft of leaves spread out in umbrella form, covering a space +of eighteen feet; _Dracæna_; screw-pines (_Pandanus_); last, but not +least, the bamboo. + +If we throw a glance, moreover, at the plants under cultivation, we +find them equally important: rice, earth-nut, _Sorghum_, Indian corn, +the cocoanut, the elegant and useful tree which gives to man almost +all the necessaries of life, supplying him at once with shelter, +food, light, heat, and clothing; the clove-tree (_Caryophyllus +aromaticus_), the unopened flower of which is the well-known clove; +pepper (_Piper nigrum_), the fruit of which, gathered before +maturity, has been constantly brought to Europe since the expedition +of Alexander the Great; and the betel (_Chavica Betel_), with bitter +and aromatic leaves, in which the southern Asiatics inclose a few +slices of the areca-nut, which they chew; the tamarind (_Tamarindus +indica_), a magnificent tree, the fruit of which incloses a pulp +of acid flavor; the mango (_Mangifera indica_), whose much-vaunted +fruit has a sweet and richly perfumed flavor accompanied with a +grateful acidity; the mangosteen (_Garcinia Mangostana_), whose berry +incloses, under a bitter and astringent epicarp, a delicious pulp; +the banana, whose yellow-clustered fruit, each six or eight inches +long, furnishes a very nourishing food; the rose apple (_Jambosa +vulgaris_), the guava (_Psidium pomiferum_), with yellow fruit of the +size of a pear; oranges, watermelons, sugar-cane, and coffee. + +Africa, like Asia, presents three very distinct regions: 1st, the +Northern, which comprehends the Mediterranean littoral and the +Sahara; 2d, the Central, which is tropical; 3d, the Southern, which +includes the Cape of Good Hope. + +The Mediterranean region, by which we mean the African littoral +bathed by the Mediterranean, includes Algeria from the northern +slopes of the Atlas to the sea, and the Delta of the Nile. This part +of Africa represents, in many respects, a vegetation analogous to +that of South Europe. In the mountain region of North Africa all +the plants of Central Europe may be cultivated with advantage. The +vine prospers in the neighborhood of Tlemcen, Milianah, Mascara, and +Medeah, where the colonists and even the natives have undertaken +its cultivation. The olive, so generally spread over North Africa, +constitutes one of the chief sources of wealth to the Kabyle tribes. +The cork-tree forms immense forests in the lower mountain region of +the littoral: in the province of Constantine, gathering the cork has +become an important trade since its conquest by France. With respect +to the Sahara, M. Cosson, a traveler and botanist, thus expresses +himself: + +“Northern Africa is especially characterized by the extreme +rarity of rains, the dryness of the atmosphere, and the extremes +of temperature; the absence of great ranges of mountains and of +permanent water-courses gives an aspect quite special to the +desert-like vegetation. The number of species growing spontaneously +does not exceed 500. The greater number of these are perennials, +which grow in tufts, and have a dry and sterile aspect, giving +them a characteristically rugged and hard appearance. The +families represented in the Algerian Sahara in greatest number +are _Compositæ_, _Graminaceæ_, _Leguminosæ_, _Cruciferæ_, and +_Chenopodiaceæ_. Among the ligneous species are Tamarisks, a genus +of elegant flowering shrubs, and the _Pistacia atlantica_. The +date-tree is, however, the chief source of wealth in the gardens of +the oases. This tree is cultivated, not alone for the abundance and +variety of its products, but also for its shade, which secures other +cultivated plants from the violence of the winds, and maintains in +the soil the moisture required for the cultivation of other crops. + +“Besides the date, an oasis generally presents an abundant crop +of figs, pomegranates, apricots, frequently the vine. The peach, +the quince, the pear, and the apple, are planted in gardens, and +in the oases, the citron, the orange-tree, olives, barley, more +rarely still, wheat, are cultivated in the irrigated lands of the +neighborhood, and in the intervals between the date plantations. +Onions, beans, carrots, turnips, and cabbages, occupy a large place +among the plants cultivated. Pimento is also largely cultivated for +the stimulating properties of its fruit, which render it a favorite +condiment with the Arabs. The egg-plant and the tomato are cultivated +in some gardens for their fruit. Numberless species of _Cucurbitaceæ_ +are also sown in the gardens in summer, and sometimes attain a +great size. The gombo (_Hibiscus esculentus_) is cultivated here +and there by the negroes for its mucilaginous fruit. The industrial +and fodder plants are principally hemp, represented by a dwarf +variety (Haschich), which is not employed as a textile plant, but +its extremities are smoked by some of the less fervent Mussulmans. +Tobacco is also cultivated. Henna (_Lawsonia inermis_), the leaves of +which have been employed in dyeing a black color, scarcely exists +except in the oasis of Ziban.” + +The Central region is only very imperfectly known, in consequence +of the terribly insalubrious nature of its coast. The same forms +of vegetation, however, prevail there which are found in other +tropical regions. We may remark here that the plants, which are +usually herbaceous in countries without the tropics, become ligneous +in these regions. This is the case with plants of the families +_Rubiaceæ_ and _Malvaceæ_. We note here also the almost entire +disappearance of _Cruciferæ_ and _Caryophyllaceæ_. The prevailing +families are _Leguminosæ_, _Terebinthaceæ_, _Malvaceæ_, _Rubiaceæ_, +_Acanthaceæ_, _Capparidaceæ_, and _Anonaceæ_. If we take a glance +at prevailing vegetation proper to this region of Africa, we find +upon the humid coasts impenetrable forests formed of mangroves +(_Rhizophora Mangle_), and _Avicennia tomentosa_, _Musa_, _Canna_, +_Amomum_, _Pandanaceæ_, gigantic _Malvaceæ_ (such as the baobab), +_Bromeliaceæ_, _Aroideæ_. Aloes (_Aloe socotrina_) furnishes the +aloes of medicine; and several fleshy Euphorbias impress their +strange characteristics upon the vigorous vegetation of this region. + +It would be depriving African vegetation of its richest ornament +not to mention its admirable palms. At their head stands the oil +palm (_Elæis guineensis_), the fruit of which, of the size of an +olive, contains so much oil that the liquid flows out when it is +pressed between the fingers. The seed contains a sort of butter. +The sap of this precious tree yields an excellent wine; its leaves +prove excellent food for sheep and goats. But the true palm wine +is produced from _Raphia vinifera_. Another remarkable member of +this elegant family is _Lodoicea Seychellarum_, the fruit of which +is larger than a man’s head and weighs upward of twenty pounds; it +sometimes floats as far as the coast of India. It is a fact worthy of +remark that in this region very few ferns or orchids are observed, +and yet these groups of plants are extremely numerous in other +tropical countries. + +Among the exotic vegetables which are successfully cultivated in +central Africa we may reckon maize, rice, _Sorghum_, Indian corn, +manioc, _Caladium esculentum_, belonging to the family of the +_Araceæ_, the rhizome and leaves of which are alimentary; the banana, +the mango, the papaw-tree (_Carica Papaya_), the fruit of which, +about the size of a small melon, is eaten either raw or cooked, and +the pulp mixed with sugar forms a delicious marmalade; the pineapple, +figs, coffee, sugar-cane, ginger, various species of _Dolichos_, the +earth-nut, cotton, tobacco, and the tamarind. + +The Southern region of the Cape of Good Hope is the country of +the species of _Protea_, _Pelargonium_, _Epacridaceæ_, _Oxalis_, +and _Ixia_, which decorate our hothouses and parterres. No other +country can compare with this region for the prodigious abundance +and dimensions of its heaths. While the plains of Europe, the Alps +included, scarcely yield a dozen species, at the Cape there are many +hundreds. They attain sometimes the height of fifteen or sixteen +feet. Their leaves are small, inconspicuous, and acicular; but their +flowers are large, and the colors which decorate them brilliant in +the extreme, varying from the softest shades to dazzling ones. + +The flora of this region is rich in vegetable forms, but it is by +no means smiling in its aspect. We find no true forests, grand and +sombre, in the whole region; there are few creeping plants, but, on +the other hand, there are many succulents. The most characteristic +families are the _Restiaceæ_, _Iridaceæ_, _Proteaceæ_, _Ericaceæ_, +_Mesembryanthaceæ_, _Rutaceæ_, _Gernaiaceæ_, _Oxalidaceæ_, and +_Polygalaceæ_. Among the characteristic genera we may mention the +_Ixia_; _Gladiolus_, with their sword-shaped leaves and party-colored +flowers; _Strelitzia_, so remarkable for their inflorescence, and +for their blue and yellow flowers; _Protea_, so named for their +diversity of appearance; _Leucadendron_, of which one species, _L. +argenteum_ (the silver-tree), rises to the height of from thirty +to forty feet, its branches bearing lanceolate leaves, silky and +silvery; _Helichrysum_ and _Gnaphalium_, corymbiferous composites, +better known as _Immortelles_; _Mesembryanthemum_, or ice-plants; +_Stapelia_, leafless asclepiads, with angular fleshy stem and showy +flowers, but somewhat fœtid odor; _Phylica_, a genus of Rhamnads +somewhat resembling heaths, with abundant evergreen foliage and small +cottony heads of white flowers; _Pelargonium_, of which an infinite +variety of forms, the result of culture, are known; _Oxalis_, the +evergreen _Sparmannia_, whose white flowers, stamens with purple +filaments and irritable anthers, are so ornamental in orangeries. +It is upon the sandy coast of this curious botanical region that +the species of _Stapelia_, _Iridaceæ_, _Mesembryanthemum_, and +_Diosma_ abound. The heaths and crassulas grow upon the slopes of the +mountains. + +The cultivated plants are the cereals, most of the fruits and +vegetables of Europe, the sorghum of Kaffirland, yam, banana, +tamarind, and guava. + +Vegetation is richer and more varied in America than in any other +part of the globe. Beginning with North America, we find its polar +vegetation quite analogous to that of Europe and Asia under the same +latitudes. The willow, birch, and poplar, exposed to the persistent +action of the cold, become stunted bushes; and saxifrages, mosses, +and lichens prevail. + +Without dwelling on the Arctic regions, then, we may divide this +immense country into two regions; one of which, descending as far +as 36°, may be called the Northern region; the other, comprehended +between 36° and 30° of latitude, will constitute the Southern region. + +The Northern region well deserves to be called the region of +_Aster_ and _Solidago_; those beautiful composites abound there +with _Liatris_, _Rudbeckia_, and _Galardia_, of the same family. +_Œnothera_, _Clarkia_, _Andromeda_, and _Kalmia_, charming ornamental +plants, well known in our flower gardens, likewise characterize +this vegetable zone. Among the most abundant arborescent species, +we may mention numerous species of pine, fir, larch, _Thuja_, +juniper; no less than twenty-seven species of willow; twenty-five +of oak, beeches, chestnuts, elms, hornbeams, alders, birches, +poplars, and ashes. With these are mingled the American plane, +_Liquidambar_, the trunk and branches of which furnish juices used +in medicine; the tulip-tree, with singularly truncate leaves and +large, spreading, solitary, yellowish flowers; different species of +maple, lime, _Robinia_, and walnut. Together with these numerous and +varied arborescent species, which attain considerable dimensions, +grow the _Myrica cerifera_, which furnishes an abundant wax drawn +from the fruit by boiling; the currant (_Ribes_), with colored and +ornamental flowers in great varieties of red, yellow, and white; the +elegant _Andromeda_, _Azalea_, _Rhododendron_, and _Spiræa_, present +themselves in endless varieties; sumacs, a species of which (_Rhus +toxicodendron_), with greenish yellow flowers, contains a juice so +acrid that contact with it produces blisters and erysipelas, and is a +dangerous poison; _Ceanothus_, hollies, and buckthorns. + +In the Southern region the vegetation somewhat resembles that of +the tropics, being a transition between that of the temperate and +torrid zones. Walnuts, elms, chestnuts, and oaks are found there, +and with them three species of palms, one of which is _Chamærops +Palmetto_; species of _Yucca_; of _Zamia_, among the _Cycadaceæ_; +_Passiflora_; of woody twining plants, such as _Bignonia sapindus_; +cacti, and laurels. Lastly, by the side of tulip-trees, _Pavia_, and +_Robinia_, grow magnificent species of _Magnolia_, of which this is +the true domain. The vegetation of this region is thus remarkable +in its variety. The sugar-cane, indigo, cotton, and tobacco cover +the cultivated plains. In Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, and Mexico, the +great colony of the cacti raise their lofty stems. In this region +_Cactus_, _Opuntia_, _Cereus_, _Echinocactus_, and _Melocactus_, +raise their oddly branching stems and clustering flowers, the most +remarkable of all doubtless being _Cereus giganteus_. It inhabits the +wildest and most inaccessible regions, requiring little or no soil to +attain a prodigious development. It has at first the appearance of +an enormous tomahawk. Thence rises a column, three yards high, which +branches off and assumes the shape of an immense candelabrum, the +height of which may be twelve or thirteen yards. Mexico, according +to the reports of botanists, may be divided into three regions of +altitude. The first extends from the valleys as far as the oak +forests--this is the region of palms, cotton, indigo, sugar-cane, +coffee, and tropical fruits. The second, situated at an elevation of +from 3,500 to 9,000 feet above the sea, is the temperate region. It +stretches from the oak forests to the forests of _Coniferæ_. At this +height the temperature is still sufficient to ripen some tropical +fruits. The third, or cold region, occupies a space comprehended +between the Conifers and perpetual snow. In many places it possesses +a climate under which pear, apple, and cherry trees, and the +potato, can still grow. In ascending from the foot of Orizaba, one +sees successively appear and disappear _Mimosa_, _Acacia_, cotton, +_Convolvulus_, _Bignonia_, oaks, palms, bananas, myrtles, laurels, +_Terebinthaceæ_, tree-ferns, _Magnolia_, arborescent composites, +plane, _Storax_, apples, pears, cherries, apricots, pomegranates, +lemon and orange trees, orchids, _Fuchsia_, and _Cactus_. + +The plains of Venezuela, known under the name of Llanos, are +principally covered with grass-like plants, such as _Kyllingia_, +_Cenchrus_, and _Raspalum_. With these we find a few dicotyledonous +plants, such as _Turnera_; some _Malvaceæ_, and, what is very +remarkable, species of _Mimosa_, with leaves quite sensitive to the +touch, which the Spaniards call _Dornuderas_. The same race of cows +which in Spain fatten upon sainfoin and clover, here find excellent +nourishment in the herbaceous sensitive plants. The pasturage is +richest, not only near rivers subject to inundations, but also where +the trunks of the palm-trees are the most crowded, which can not +be attributable to the shelter and protection which they have from +the sun’s rays, since the palm of the Llanos (_Corypha tectorum_) +has only a very few corrugated and palmate leaves, like those of +_Chamærops_, and the lower are always parched and dried up. Besides +the isolated trunks of palms we also find, here and there, in the +Llanos, groups of palms, in which the _Corypha_ mingles with a tree +of the family of _Proteaceæ_--a new species of _Rhopala_, with hard +and resonant leaves. In the Llanos of Caracas, the _Corypha_ extends +from the Mesa de Paja to Guayaval. More to the north and northwest +it is replaced by another species of the same genus, with leaves +equally palmate, but much larger. To the south of Guayaval other +palms predominate, chiefly the pinnate-leaved _Piritu_ (_Guilielma +speciosa_) and the _Mauritia flexuosa_, the sago-tree of America, +which supplies farinaceous food, good wine, thread to weave into +hammocks, clothes, and baskets; its fruit, in shape resembling +pine-cones, being covered with scales, like those of _Calamus_ +(Rotang), with something of the taste of an apple. The Guaranes, +whose very existence, so to speak, depends on the Murichi palm, +obtain an acid and very refreshing fermented liquor from it. This +palm has large, shiny, corrugated, and fan-like leaves, maintaining +a most beautiful verdure in times of the greatest drought. The sight +of it alone in the Llanos produces an agreeable and refreshing +sensation; and the Murichi, laden with its scaly fruit, contrasts +singularly with the sad aspect of the palm of Cobija, the leaves of +which are always gray and covered with dust. + +If we ascend the Andes, between 20° south latitude and 5° north, +at a height of from 5,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea level, we +shall find extra-tropical forms of vegetation become more abundant: +_Graminaceæ_; some _Amentaceæ_--such as the oaks, willows; _Labiatæ_; +_Ericaceæ_; numerous _Compositæ_; _Caprifoliaceæ_; _Umbelliferæ_; +_Rosaceæ_; _Cruciferæ_; and _Ranunculaceæ_. Tropical plants, on +the contrary, disappear, or become very rare; but still, isolated +species of palms, pepper-plants, _Cactaceæ_, passion-flowers, and +_Melastomaceæ_ are found at considerable heights. Among the most +abundant ligneous species are the _Ceroxylon andicola_, the highest +of all the palms, which reaches the height of 200 feet, and produces +a wax which exudes from its leaves, and from the base of their +petioles; willow and Humboldt’s oak; several species of _Cinchona_, +which here reign supreme; a few hollies, and species of _Andromeda_. +Vegetables cultivated between the tropics, in Mexico, and as far +south as the river Amazon, disappear almost entirely here; but maize +and coffee, the cereals and European fruits, are cultivated in these +regions; potatoes; _Chenopodium Quinoa_, the seeds of which, when +boiled, serve as food for the inhabitants of the mountains. + +If we ascend to the height of 10,000 feet above the sea on the +Andes, and in the same latitude, tropical forms of vegetation almost +entirely disappear. Those, on the contrary, which characterize +temperate climates, and even the Polar regions, become abundant. +Large trees are no longer seen. Alders, bilberries, currants; +_Escallonia_, with bitter and tonic leaves, of which this is the +home; hollies and _Drymis_, are bushes belonging to these regions, +as well as the curious calceolarias, with shoe-shaped corolla, +the seeds of which have supplied horticulture with an infinite +number of varieties. Among the characteristic families we also find +_Umbelliferæ_, _Caryophyllaceæ_, _Cruciferæ_, _Cyperaceæ_, mosses and +lichens. Returning to more circumscribed botanical districts, the +climate of Caracas has often been called one of perpetual spring. +A more delicious temperature can not be conceived. During the day +it ranges between 60° and 68° Fahr., and in the night between 60° +and 64°, at once favorable to the growth of the banana, the orange, +coffee, the apple, apricot, and wheat. + +We must not quit these regions without mentioning two beneficent +trees--the _Theobroma Cacao_ and the cow-tree, _Brosimum +Galactodendron_. The roasted and crushed seeds of _Theobroma +Cacao_, with the addition of sugar, make chocolate. Humboldt gives +the following account of the cow-tree, which has the habit of +_Chrysophyllum Cainito_: “The fruit is rather fleshy, consisting +of one, sometimes two nuts. When incisions are made in the trunk +an abundance of thick glutinous milk flows, which is without any +acidity. This substance exhales a very agreeable balsam-like odor. +It was presented to us in the fruit of the Calabash-tree. We drank +considerable quantities of it in the evening before going to bed, +and again early in the morning, without experiencing any injurious +effects. Negroes and free people who work on the plantations drink +of it, and soak their maize or manioc bread in it. The master of the +farm assured us that the slaves fattened visibly during the season +when the _Palo de Vacca_ furnishes them with most milk. Upon the arid +flank of a rock,” adds Von Humboldt, “there grows a tree whose leaves +are dry and coriaceous, its great ligneous roots almost piercing +the stone. During many months of the year not a shower waters its +foliage, the branches appear dry and dead; but when the trunk is +pierced a sweet and nourishing milk follows the incision.” + +In order to penetrate to the heart of the vegetation of Brazil, +the region of palms and _Melastomaceæ_, the land of promise to +the naturalists, we shall take as our guide Martius and August +de Sainte-Hilaire, who have written with much exactness on the +vegetable wonders displayed in the Brazilian forests. Their aspect +varies according to the nature of the soil, and the distribution +of water traversing them. If these forests are not the seat of a +constant supply of moisture, or if the moisture is only renewed by +periodical rains, the drought stops the vegetation, and it becomes +intermittent, as in European climates. This is the case in the +Catingas. The vegetation of the untrodden forests, on the contrary, +of which Sainte-Hilaire gives an eloquent picture, is the reverse of +this; excited by the ceaseless action of the two agents, humidity +and heat, the vegetation of the virgin forests remains in a state +of continual activity. The winter is only distinguished from the +summer by a shade of color in the verdure of the foliage; and if +some of the trees lose their leaves, it is to assume immediately a +new appearance. “When a European arrives in America, and sees from a +distance the untrodden forests for the first time, he is astonished +not to see the singular forms which he admired in European hothouses, +but which are here mingled in masses and lost. And he is astonished +at the little difference in the outline of the forests between those +of his own country and those of the New World, and he is only struck +with the proportions and the deep green color of the leaves, which, +under the most brilliant sky imaginable, impart a grave and severe +aspect to the landscape. In order to appreciate all the beauties of +the tropical forest we must plunge into retreats as old as the world. +Nothing there reminds us of the fatiguing monotony of our oak and fir +forests: each tree has a bearing peculiar to itself. Each has its +own foliage, and often its own peculiar shade of verdure. Gigantic +specimens of vegetation, each belonging to different, sometimes to +remote, families, mingle their branches and blend their foliage. +Five-leaved _Bignoniaceæ_ grow beside _Cæsalpinia_, and the golden +leaves of _Cassia_ spread themselves in falling upon arborescent +ferns. Myrtles and _Eugenia_, with their thousand-times-divided +branches, are finely contrasted with the elegant simplicity of the +palms; _Cecropia_ spreads its broad leaves and branches, which +resemble immense candelabra, among the delicate foliage of _Mimosa_. +There are trees with perfectly smooth bark, others are defended by +prickly spines; and the enormous trunk of a species of wild fig +spreads itself out with sloping plates, which seem to support it like +so many arched buttresses. The obscure flowers of our beeches and +oaks only attract the attention of naturalists; but in the forests +of South America gigantic trees often display the most brilliant +colors in their corolla. Long golden clusters hang from the branches +of the _Cassia_. _Vochysia_ erect a thyrsus of odd-shaped flowers. +Yellow and sometimes purple corollas, longer than those of our +_Digitalis_, cover in profusion the species of trumpet-flowered +_Bignonia_; and _Chorisia_ is decked with flowers which resemble +our lily in shape, and remind us of _Alstromeria_ from the mixture +of colors they present. Certain vegetable forms, which assume at +home very humble proportions, present themselves with a floral pomp +unknown in temperate climates; some _Boraginaceæ_ become shrubs; many +_Euphorbiaceæ_ assume the proportions of majestic trees, offering an +agreeable shelter under their thick umbrageous foliage.” + +But it is principally among the _Graminaceæ_ that the greatest +difference is observable. Of these there are a great number which +attain no larger dimensions than our _Bromus_, forming masses of +grass only distinguished from European species by their stems being +more branchy, and the leaves larger. Others shoot up to the height of +the forest tree, with a graceful habit. At first they are as upright +as a lance, terminating in a point, with only one leaf, resembling +a large scale, at each internode; when these fall, a crown of short +branches springs from their axils, bearing the true leaves. The +stems of the bamboos are thus decorated with verticils at regular +intervals. It is to the _Lianes_ principally that tropical forests +are indebted for their picturesque beauty, and these are the source +of the most varied effects. Our own honeysuckle and the ivy give but +a faint idea of the appearance presented by the crowd of climbing +and creeping plants belonging to many different families. These are +_Bignoniaceæ_, _Bauhinia_, _Cissus_, and _Hippocrateaceæ_, and while +they all require a support, they each have notwithstanding a bearing +peculiar to themselves. One of those climbing parasites will encircle +the trunk of the largest trees to a prodigious height, the marks +left by the old leaves seeming in their lozenge-shaped design to +resemble the skin of a serpent. From this parasitic stem spring large +leaves of a glossy green, while its lower parts give birth to slender +roots, which descend again to the earth straight as a plumb-line. The +tree which bears the Spanish name of _Cipo-Matador_, “the murderous +Liane,” has a trunk so slight that it can not support itself alone, +but must find support on a neighboring tree more robust than itself. +It presses against its stem, aided by its aerial roots, which embrace +it at intervals like so many flexible osiers, by which it secures +itself and defies the most terrible hurricanes. Some _Lianes_ +resemble waving ribbons, others are twisted in large spirals, or hang +in festoons, spreading between the trees, and darting from one to +another, twining round them, and forming masses of stem, leaves, and +flowers, where the observer often finds it difficult to assign to +each species what belongs to it. + +Thousands of different species of shrubs, _Melastomaceæ_, +_Boraginaceæ_, _peppers_, and _Acanthaceæ_, springing up round the +roots of large trees, fill up the intervals left between them. +Species of _Tillandsia_ and orchids, with flowers of strange and +whimsical shape, make their appearance, and these often serve as +supports to other parasites. Numerous brooks generally run through +these forests, communicating their own freshness to the forest +vegetation, presenting to the tired traveler delicious and limpid +water, while the banks of the stream are carpeted with mosses, +lycopodiums, and ferns, from the midst of which spring begonias, +with delicate and succulent stems, unequal leaves, and flesh-colored +flowers. + +The forests of Paraguay, still little known, situated along the +coast of the Atlantic, consist of ligneous _Compositæ_ and _Ilex +paraguayensis_, the Paraguay tea, of which a large quantity is +annually exported. + +In the Argentine Republic Auguste de Saint-Hilaire found only 500 +species of plants, among which only fifteen belonged to families +which are not European. + +When we reach the south coast of Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, +a few brown and coriaceous _Graminaceæ_ and _Cyperaceæ_, such as +_Dactylis cæspitosa_, _Carex trifida_, _Bolax glebaria_, _Cardamine +glacialis_, _Veronica_, _Calceolaria_, _Aster_, _Opuntia Darwinii_, +_Lomaria magellanica_ among the tree ferns, a few brambles, +thickets of bilberries and _Arbutus_, include nearly the whole of +the vegetation of these desert lands, where mosses, hepaticas, and +lichens reign supreme. We now reach the southern part of South +America. In the stormy region of Terra del Fuego thick forests +cover the mountains, where they are sheltered from the wind, to the +height of 1,500 feet above the level of the sea. _Fagus betuloides_ +predominates there; then comes _F. antarctica_, accompanied by +barberry and currant bushes. + +At the Island of Hermite, the most southerly point of the American +Continent, there is still some arborescent vegetation. Hooker +there observed eighty-four flowering plants and many cryptogams. A +fungus parasitic on the beech (_Cyttaria Gunnii_) constitutes there +a principal aliment of the miserable inhabitants of these gloomy +regions. + +The Australian flora presents forms more ancient than any other +contemporary vegetation. More than nine-tenths of the species found +between 33° and 35° south latitude, in Australia, are absolutely +limited to these regions. Many constitute completely distinct +families; others form families which are scarcely represented in +any other part of the globe. Those even which belong to groups more +generally diffused disguise their natural affinities under forms +isolated and unlike their congeners. The different species of two +genera, namely, _Eucalyptus_ among _Myrtaceæ_, and _Acacia_ among +_Leguminosæ_, form perhaps, from their number and dimensions, +one-half of the vegetation which covers the country. Their leaves +are reduced to phyllodes. Neither these phyllodes nor the limb of +the real leaves are placed horizontally, like those of Europe and +other parts of the world, but are perpendicular to the surface of +the soil, so that the light shining between these vertical blades +is not arrested, as in the case with our trees and bushes, in which +the leaves are placed transversely one above the other. The effect +produced by masses of Australian verdure is thus entirely different +from that to which we are accustomed. The aspects of these forests +particularly struck the first travelers who visited them, from +the singular sensation communicated to the eye by this mode of +distributing light and shade. + +_Eucalyptus_, which occupies such a large place in Australian +vegetation, may be said to be the sacred tree with the natives; it +shadows the tombs of the savage inhabitants of these countries. Sir +Thomas Mitchell, the traveler to whom we owe the first scientific +description of Australia, has given a remarkable picture of “these +groves of death,” which are daily becoming more and more rare, and +will disappear under the influence of European colonization. He +relates that these groves mark the centre of the patrimonial land +of each great Australian tribe. Little _tumuli_ of grass, and sandy +footpaths, surround the clumps of these funereal squares, over +which spreads the shadow of the _Eucalyptus_ and _Xanthorrhæa._ If +to the magnificent _Eucalyptus_ and simple-leaved _Acacia_, which +predominate in the forests and give quite a special character to the +vegetation, we add the _Xanthorrhæa_, with its thick stem, long, +narrow, linear leaves, curved and spreading at the summit, from the +centre of which rises an elongated stem, terminated by a spike of +robust flowers; the _Casuarina_, with long, pendent, and drooping +boughs, most delicately articulated; _Araucaria excelsa_, whose +column-like trunk and verticillate branches rise to the height of +ninety or a hundred feet; the elegant _Epacridaceæ_, with flowers +so varied; a vast number of pretty _Leguminosæ_, which now add to +the riches of our hothouses; more than 120 terrestrial _Orchidaceæ_, +nearly all belonging to genera peculiar to Australia, we shall have +an idea of the vegetation which covers and decorates in so original a +way the shores of New Holland. + +The large islands of New Zealand almost correspond in latitude with +the zone which we have been examining. These islands are the nearest +land (considering Van Diemen’s Land as part of Australia), and are +interesting as being the exact antipodes of western Europe, and +because they repeat as it were our Mediterranean region on the other +side of the globe. While resembling it in climate, however, the +native vegetation has its own characteristics. It has some features +in common with Australia and the tropics. + +In the large island of Ika-na-Nawi there are immense forests of +_Lianes_ and interlacing shrubs, which render them impenetrable. In +these forests there exist, no doubt, trees of gigantic dimensions, +for the canoes of the natives are sometimes as much as sixty feet +long, and from three to four broad, all hollowed out of one trunk. At +from two to four miles from the coast Messrs. Richard and Lesson saw +large spaces, very low and probably marshy, covered with great masses +of green trees, of which the _Dacrydium cupressinum_ and _Podocarpus +dacrydiodes_ and some others, form the principal species. The +European is surprised to meet there many familiar plants, or species +closely allied to them, such as _Senecio_, _Veronica_, rushes, +_Ranunculus acris_, etc. On the other hand, several plants peculiar +to New Zealand grow abundantly in these localities, such, among +others, as the _Phormium tenax_, called by Europeans New Zealand +Flax, because its fibres furnish a very strong thread, much used in +the manufacture of certain fabrics. + +Ferns form a tenth of the number of species in the whole +vegetation of New Zealand; among Monocotyledons are _Graminaceæ_ +and _Cyperaceæ_; among Dicotyledons, _Umbelliferæ_, _Cruciferæ_, +and _Onagrariaceæ_. New Zealand only furnishes a small number of +alimentary plants. The aboriginal inhabitants of this archipelago, +for the most part ichthyophagous, were long reduced to the feculent +root of a fern, the _Pteris esculenta_, for food, when they could +not obtain fish. None of their trees produce large fruit. The taro +(_Caladium esculentum_) and the sweet potato (_Convolvulus Batatas_) +also serve as nourishment to the inhabitants of these countries. +It is to be remarked that European vegetables, introduced into New +Zealand by sailors, are propagated there with such facility that +the aspect of the ground, as well as conditions of life, are greatly +modified. Among the vegetables proper to the archipelago in question +we may note the _Corypha australis_ among the palms; arborescent +species of _Dracæna_, forests of _Coniferæ_, with large leaves, such +as _Dammara_, and _Metrosideros_ among the _Myrtaceæ_. + + + + + ZONES OF VEGETATION + --M. J. SCHLEIDEN + + +If, from the snow-covered ice-plains of the extreme north, where +the Red-snow Alga alone remind us of the existence of vegetable +organization, we turn toward the south, a girdle first expands +before us, in which mosses and lichens clothe the soil, and a +peculiar vegetation of low plants with subterranean, perennial +stems, and generally large, handsome flowers, the so-called Alpine +plants, gives a special character to Nature. Almost all the plants +form little, flattened, separate tufts; _Pyrola_, _Andromeda_, +_Pedicularis_, _Cochlearia_, poppies, crow-foots, and others are +the characteristic genera of this flora, in which no tree, no shrub +flourishes. Leaving this region, which botanists call the region of +Mosses and Saxifrages, or, after one of the founders of Geographical +Botany, Wahlenberg’s region, we go southward, and at first we see +little low bushes of birches, then more compacted woods, into which +the pines and other coniferous trees assemble, and we at last find +ourselves in a second great zone of vegetation which is characterized +by the woods consisting almost exclusively of conifers, which thus +impress a peculiar character upon the flora; firs and pines, Siberian +stone-pines and larches form great widely extended masses of forest; +by brooks and on damp soil occur the willow and the alder. On dry +hills grow the reindeer lichen and Iceland moss. In the cranberry, +cloud-berry, and the currant Nature gives spontaneously, though +sparingly, food; and a rich flora of variegated flowers serves for +the decoration of the zone, which stretches, in Scandinavia, to +the northern limit of the cultivation of wheat, but in Russia and +Asia, almost to Kazan and Yakutsk; we will call it the zone of the +conifers. Even in the neighborhood of Drontheim, the culture of +fruits begins, though sparingly; soon appears the sturdy oak, called, +with rather too much poetic license, “the German”; in Schoonen, +Zealand, Schleswig, and Holstein flourish the first woods of beech. +In about the latitude of Frankfort-on-the-Main, another tree joins +company, which, in its bold, picturesque mode of branching, takes its +stand beside the oak--which in the beauty of its foliage, as well +as the utility of its fruit, it far surpasses--namely, the noble +chestnut. The Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Caucasus form the southern +limit of the zone, in the more eastern portion of which the lime and +the elm contribute so abundantly to the composition of the forests +that the former even withstands the devastation which the Esthonians +make in the manufacture of their shoes from its bass. In the hop, the +ivy, and the clematis we find here the first representation of the +tropical climbers. The smiling green of the meadows alternates with +the gloomy shadows of the forests; and man has taken possession of +the earth, restraining the wild vegetation to that absolutely needful +for wood and hay, and rich crops reward his industry. We leave this +zone of the deciduous woods to scale the rocky barrier of the Alps. +Here suddenly appear quite different plants; with the great woods +of trees, the coriaceous shining leaves of which last through the +mild winter, and round the mighty stems of which climb the vine and +flame-colored Bignonias, unite the smaller bushes of myrtle, arbutus, +and pistachio. Here and there the dwarf-palm is met with; labiate +plants and crucifers, and fair-flowered rock-roses replace in summer +the spring flora of scented hyacinth and narcissus; but rarely, even +in the most favored spots, is the eye dazzled by the brilliancy of +evergreen leaves, or the glaring play of color of the naked, jagged +mountain chains, gladdened by the mild radiance of verdant meadows. +In recompense, mankind has, in this zone of evergreen woods, +seized upon the fruit of the Hesperides. It is + + “the land where the Citrons blow, + Through the dark-green leaves the gold Oranges glow.” + +But onward, ever onward, strives the insatiable son of Iapetus; no +legend of African deserts, no death-news of the many adventurous +travelers who have gone forth to seek the source of the Niger, +frighten him back. On the west coast of Africa, in the Canary +Isles, is, indeed, no longer found the gigantic dog, from which, +as Pliny told, the islands derived their name, but Flora gives for +booty richest treasures which she, by aid of the tropical sun, has +succeeded in extracting from the soil, moistened by the vapors of +the ocean. Round sycamores twine mighty cissus stems; capers and +bauhinias interlace in the thickets of balsamic shrubs. The slender +date-palm soars aloft, and the baobab grows up into gigantic masses +of wood. The wondrous cactus-like forms of the leafless spurges, +distinguished by their poisonous or pleasant-flavored, sweet milk, +as the case may be, betray a peculiar formative power in Nature; +and the dragon-tree in the garden of Orotava,[3] in Teneriffe, a +gigantic arborescent lily-plant, recounts to the musing listener the +traditions of thousands of years. + +Six zones of vegetation have we thus passed through, in which the +continually increasing temperature of the climate called forth ever +a different, ever a more luxuriant vegetation, and we conclude +our wanderings, after a short rest under the five-thousand-yeared +Dracænas, by climbing the Pic of Teyde. Man has taken possession +of the soil of the plain at its foot and dislodged the original +vegetation. Through vineyards and maize-fields we ascend, till +the shades of the evergreen bay-laurel surround us. Trees of the +lace-bark tribe and similar plants succeed; we wander for a time +through a _zone of evergreen forest trees_. At a height of 4,000 +feet we lose the plants which had so far accompanied us. A very +small number of peculiar plants mark a quickly traversed _zone of +deciduous trees_, and we come among the resinous trunks of the Canary +pine. A _zone of conifers_ shield us from the sun’s rays up to a +height of 6,000 feet, then the vegetation suddenly becomes low--from +humble bushes it passes into a flora which bears all the characters +of the Alpine plants, till finally the naked rock sets a limit to all +organic life, and no snow and ice bedeck the summit of the mountain, +only because its height of 12,236 feet does not, in a position so +near the tropics, extend up to the region of eternal snow. Counting +by the limits of vegetation, we have resurveyed in a few hours’ climb +the wide way from Spitzbergen to the Canaries, an extent of more than +fifty degrees of latitude. + +The plant is dependent on the condition of the soil, in the widest +sense of the word, on the store of nutriment it contains, and on all +that influences the chemical process of formation, consequently, +above all, upon a determinate temperature. The universal, +indispensable nutrient substance of plants, and, at the same time, +the matter by means of which all the rest are conveyed into it, +is water. Without water there is no vegetation. The orchidaceous +plants of the tropical forest let their peculiarly constructed roots +hang down from the branch to which they cling in the warm, moist +atmosphere, and absorb water in the form of vapor. Our water-lilies +and the proper bog-plants will only flourish when surrounded by +liquid water, or, at least, with their roots dipping in it. The case +is quite different with the great majority of plants; they have to +extract their nutriment from the earth, which contains the moisture +to be absorbed into them in a peculiar condition. If to these three +classes of air, water, and earth-plants we add one more, namely, +the true parasites, which, like our dodder, draw their organized +nutriment from other plants, we have obtained the principal divisions +of stations. + +Every soil which bears plants contains also in its composition all +the substances required by all plants, only the proportions differ, +and the predominance of silex, lime, or common salt must consequently +favor especially the growth of grasses, pulses, or shore-plants, +although these are by no means exclusively confined to the proper +sandy or calcareous soils, or to the seaside. In addition to the +chemical conditions, there is yet another which modifies the former +and, where it brings about the same actions, contributes to chain +particular plants so much the more firmly, exclusively to particular +soils, or contrariwise also contributes to conceal or obliterate +the connection between plants and the chemical nature of the soil. +This consists in the mechanical condition and physical peculiarities +of the soil. There are plants which will only settle on unbroken +_rocks_, which when the other conditions coincide, spring from these +rocks over on to our _walls_, like the Wall Rue Spleenwort,[4] a +little fern, the name of which denotes its station. Others occur only +where weathering has broken up the solid rock into small fragments, +_drift_ plants, which, clinging to mankind, select _rubbish heaps_, +which most resemble their natural station; our great nettle and +henbane may serve as examples. Lastly, other plants grow only where +the rocks have been reduced to fine powder, in _sand_ or in the +fine-grained _clay_ produced by chemical decomposition. The so-called +German Sarsaparilla, the sea-reed, is an example of the first +condition, but there is no definite condition corresponding to it in +the vicinity of human habitations. Clay, on the other hand, stands +beside the black substance humus, resulting from the decomposition of +organic matter. Both rich in soluble salts, important to vegetation, +both distinguished in regard to their property of absorbing from +the atmosphere, and thus conveying to the roots of plants gases +and aqueous vapor, they cause, singly or in combination, the most +luxuriant vegetation. We thus obtain three stages in reference to +the qualities of the soil-pure earths, wholly devoid of vegetation; +mixed earths, without clay or humus, with an arid but characteristic +vegetation; and lastly, soil rich in clay and humus, with the +greatest abundance and variety of plants. + +Australia has, in common with Europe, a very common plant, the daisy +(_Bellis perennis_). The same little flower is found in northern +Asia, in some regions in Africa and South America, and where it +occurs it climbs the mountains from the level of the sea up to +the snow-limit. The little enchanter’s nightshade, the delicate +Linnæa, the bittersweet, the bird’s knot-grass, the blue gentian, +the dwarf birch, and the herbaceous willow, and several others, are +indigenous both in Europe and North America. The common self-heal, +the duckweed, and our reed grow in New Holland. The bog-moss covers +the moors of Peru and New Granada, as well as those of the Hartz and +of Dovrefjeld in Norway. The brownish Parmelia, which clothes all our +walls in Germany, palings, and old trees, is no less present on the +only ninety-year-old Yorullo in Mexico. The bluish bristle-grass, +which is one of the commonest garden and field weeds on sandy soils +with us, grows also in the interior of Brazil on suitable soil. A +characteristic plant of the seashores of Northern Europe and the +vicinity of salt-springs, _Ruppia martima_, grows equally on the +northern coast of Germany, in Brazil, and the East Indies. But it +is needless to accumulate examples, for these so hasten to present +themselves that the view finds some support in observation which +assumes that every plant must exist in every part of the globe where +the known conditions of its vegetation are present. + +The little daisy (_Bellis perennis_) exhibits a certain wilfulness. +It is wanting all through North America; and that which we tread down +as an insignificant weed in our European meadows is there reared +with the most tender care in the botanical gardens. If we pass in +review the vegetation of different countries, we see that causes +appearing similar in our present knowledge of them bring forth indeed +_similar_, but by no means the same, forms of plants. To the plants +of a particular northern latitude correspond in the analogous height +of the Alps, situated southward, other species of the same genera, +or other genera of the same family; or the plants of America are +represented in the same latitudes in the Old World by plants which +are different, but closely allied, in their development. Nay, even +plants which belong to totally different families assume, at least +in their outward appearance, similar shapes. Thus the cactus plants +of the New World correspond to the leafless, fleshy spurges of the +torrid Africa. + +If, again, we anticipate that a greater variety of conditions of +vegetation is the cause why the variety of vegetation, the number +of species of plants, continually augments from the pole toward the +equator, and that on the same account the number of sociably growing +plants, of species which clothe great tracts in countless individual +specimens, also increases in the same measure, we find that we are +still far from being enabled to give a scientific account of the +matter. It seems to us wholly the result of caprice that particular +plants are distributed widely over the globe, while others must +live cribbed in the narrowest spot, as, for instance, the Wulfenia, +occurring exclusively on the Carinthian Alps; that particular +families, like the _Compositæ_, flourish abroad over the whole earth, +while others, like the peppers and the palms, only occur between +very definite degrees of latitude on either side of the equator, the +_Proteaceæ_ only in the Southern Hemisphere, the cactus tribe only in +the western half of our earth. Just as inexplicable is the _mode of +distribution_ of the families of plants. While the palms diminish in +number from the equator into higher latitudes, the _Compositæ_ attain +their highest development in the zones of mean temperature, their +number of species diminishes from these in both directions, equally +toward the equator and toward the poles; while, finally, the grasses +increase constantly from the equator toward the poles. + +This, to us inexplicable, mode of distribution of plants according +to species, genera, families, orders, and classes gives rise to +certain peculiar regions on the globe, which are characterized by +the predominance of certain forms of plants, or by the exclusive +occurrence of particular families. These portions of the earth’s +surface are called Geographical Regions of Plants, and to them have +been applied the names of men who have made themselves especially +famous by the investigation of these places. + +I have already alluded to the regions of saxifrages and mosses, or +Wahlenberg’s region, which extends from the eternal snow of the +poles, or the summits of the mountains, down to the limit of the +growth of trees, and is distinguished by the absence of arborescent +plants, and even of the taller shrubs. Adjoining this comes the +great Linnæan region, including northern Europe and northern Asia +to the great chain of mountains which extends from the Pyrenees to +the Alps. Woods of conifers, or deciduous trees, luxuriant meadows, +and broad heaths, in Asia the peculiar salt steppes, especially +determine the characters of this region, which, at least in its +European portion, is now too widely taken possession of to exhibit +its natural physiognomy. The wide basin from the Alps to Atlas, the +deepest part filled by the Mediterranean Sea, forms a third region, +distinguished by the abundance of aromatic Labiate plants, fair, but +fleeting, lily plants, and the resinous rock-roses. The solitary +dwarf-palm and balsam-trees denote in this, De Candolle’s region, the +transition to the tropics. Parallel to the two last-named regions, +North America is divided into a northern region named in honor of +Michaux, distinguished by peculiar conifers, oaks and walnuts, by +innumerable asters and golden-rods from the Linnæan region, and +a southern, Pursh’s region, in which most strikingly appear the +trees with broad shining leaves and large splendid flowers, like +the tulip-tree, the magnolia, and others defining the character. +Between Kämpfer’s region, comprehending China and Japan, Wallich’s +in the highlands of India, and the Polynesian, or island region of +Reinwardt, renowned for its poison-tree and its giant-flower, lies +Roxburgh’s region, which extends through both the Indian peninsulas, +which conceals among the shadows of the monster fig-trees the +_Scitaminaceæ_, or aromatic lilies, like ginger, cardamums, and +turmeric, or in little woods of aromatic barks, like the cinnamon and +cassia, matures in thick, shapeless stems the starch of the sago. +We pass over Blume’s region in the mountains of Java, Chamisso’s +in the Archipelago of the South Sea, and Forster’s region in New +Zealand, and turn again to Africa, where the desert, Delile’s region, +ripens, in the oases, the date, and in the tender-leaved acacias +concocts the abundance of gum-arabic and senega, which commerce +brings to the service of our industry. To this, eastward, adjoins +Forskäl’s region, where the balsam-trees predominate; on the south, +Adanson’s, the characteristic plant of which perpetuates the name +of that enlightened botanist, the thousand-yeared giant stem of the +_Adansonia digitata_, the baobab, or monkey’s-bread. The little +known Africa gives only one more region, at its southern extremity, +Thunberg’s, bedecked with stapelias, mesembryanthemums, brilliant +heaths, and evil-scented becku-shrubs, but poor in woods. New Holland +and Van Diemen’s Land bear the name of their first and most profound +botanical investigator, Robert Brown; and Central and South America +distribute their vegetable riches into eight more regions, which are +dedicated to Jacquin, Bonpland, Humboldt, Ruiz and Pavon, Swartz, +Martius, St. Hilaire, and D’Urville; among these, Jacquin’s region is +remarkable for its strange cacti; Humboldt’s, on the heights of the +South American Andes, for its Quinoa forests; and that of Martius, in +the interior of Brazil, for its abundance of palms, for its quantity +of climbing plants or lianes and parasitic plants. + +All over the globe has man, for the supply of necessary food, +selected almost solely summer plants, that is, such plants as +complete their whole vegetative processes, or, at all events, the +development of all the parts containing nutrient matter, within +the course of a few months. By this means he has rendered himself +independent in the half-tropical regions of the evil action of the +dry season, and in the higher latitudes of the destructive influence +of cold, and thus ensured the possibility of cultivating plants, +which there must be killed by the drought of summer, here by the +cold of winter. Setting aside the cultivation of fruits, which serve +rather pleasure than necessity, there remain but three arborescent +vegetables in the whole world which can be included among the true +food-plants, namely, the bread-fruit, the cocoanut, and the date, +which actually furnish the chief proportion of the food of great +bodies of men and over widely extended areas, and thence have become +objects of culture; the _Cycadaceæ_, and sago-palms, on account of +their starchy parenchyma, can at most perhaps be taken into our +reckoning only in a very limited circle in the East Indies. All the +rest of the food-plants are either such as possess a subterraneous, +usually tuberous stem, which sends up shoots above the soil, +persisting but a few months, on which develop flowers and fruit, +while during the remaining time sleeping, as it were, beneath the +protecting coverlet of earth, it sets the disfavor of the climate at +defiance, or such as die during or at the end of a short period of +vegetation, and ensure the future reproduction in the slumbering germ +of the seed. To the former belong, for instance, the potato, derived +from the Cordilleras of Chili, Peru, and Mexico; to the latter, +almost all our corn-plants. + +One plant alone distinguishes itself among the cultivated plants +by a peculiar mode of vegetation, a plant which was perhaps the +earliest gift of Nature to man awakening to life, and thus the +object of the earliest culture; I mean the banana. And this plant +was not merely the first, but the most valuable gift of Nature; its +slightly aromatic, sweet and nutritive fruits are the sole, or at +least the chief, food of the major part of the inhabitants of the +hotter regions. A creeping subterraneous root-stock sends out on +high, from lateral buds, a shaft fifteen to twenty feet long, which +consists merely of the rolled-up, sheath-like leaf-stalks, bearing +the velvet-like glancing leaves, often ten feet long and two feet +broad; the midrib of the leaf alone is firm and thick, but the blade +of the leaf on either side so delicate that it is readily torn by the +wind, whence the leaf acquires a peculiar feathered aspect. Among +the leaves presses up the rich cluster of flowers, which within +three months after the shoot has arisen forms from 150 to 180 ripe +fruits, about the size and form of a cucumber. The fruits weigh +altogether about 70 or 80 pounds, and the same space which will bear +1,000 pounds of potatoes brings forth in a much shorter time 44,000 +bananas; and if we take account of the nutritious matter which this +fruit contains, a surface which, sown with wheat, feeds one man, +planted with bananas, affords sustenance to five-and-twenty. Nothing +strikes the European landing in a tropical country so much as the +little spot of cultivated land round a hut, which shelters a very +numerous Indian family. + +Not till long after did man learn to know and cultivate the gifts of +Ceres. It must, in fact, surprise us, at present, to see that but +a few species of a single family of plants furnish the principal +food of the greater proportion of mankind, namely, the so-called +corn-plants, or _Cerealia_, of the family of grasses. This family +includes nearly 4,000 species, and yet not twenty of them are +cultivated for the food of man. In their real nature these cultivated +grasses are all summer plants, but varieties have been obtained from +some of the most important of them, which, in the proper climate, +sown in autumn, germinate and pass the winter under the warm covering +of snow, so that they are in a condition to shoot out strongly in the +spring, while the soil is being prepared for the other summer plants. + +Barley has the widest range of distribution of all the _Cerealia_, +and is cultivated from the extreme limits of culture in Lapland to +the heights immediately beneath the equator. But it has by no means +the same importance everywhere that it has in the northern region, +where, in a little narrow zone, it appears as the sole bread-corn. +In Lapland and northern Asia, rye soon appears beside it, but by +the inclemency of the climate confined to favorable years, and +therefore not properly to be regarded as the principal food. First in +Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia does the rye become the peculiar +bread-corn; and wheat takes its place beside it in the north of +Great Britain and Germany, as the rye before joined barley. In the +centre of Germany, in the south of Great Britain, in France, and in a +wide range toward the East, including the whole of the Caspian Sea, +wheat is the prevailing cultivated plant, which in the basin of the +Mediterranean and throughout North America is associated with maize. +Rice takes the place of the latter in Egypt and in northern India, +and holds undisputed rule in the peninsulas of India, in China, +Japan, and the East Indian islands, shares it in the west coast of +Africa with maize, which, on the other hand, is the exclusively +cultivated corn-plant of the greatest part of tropical America, +with only some unimportant exceptions. In southern America, Africa, +and Australia wheat again enters the field with the decreasing +temperature. The culture of _Tef_ and _Tocusso_ in Abyssinia, of +millet in Western Africa and Arabia, as well as of _Eleusine_ and +millet in the East Indies, are quite of subordinate importance. + +Some other plants bear a far more important share in the nutrition +of mankind than the grasses last named. Even in the most northern +zone of the barley and rye, the buckwheat is an object of tolerably +extensive culture. With the already named banana, the yams, the +manioc, and the batatas contribute largely to the daily food of the +inhabitants of the tropics, of the Old as of the New World, added to +which the Andes presents itself a peculiar vegetable, the quinoa, +a plant which simultaneously produces edible tubers and abundance +of seeds, comparable to those of buckwheat. Lastly, we may not pass +over the _Bread-fruit_, in the proper sense of the word, which is +the principal food of the inhabitants of the large islands which +extend from the East Indies through the whole tropical ocean to the +west coast of America, the gift of a large and beautiful tree of the +family of the nettle, which from the use it is turned to is called +the bread-fruit tree. For the sake of variety, some also cultivate +with it the tarroo-root, the _Tacca_ tubers, or some ferns, the +farinaceous leaf-stalks of which afford a dainty meal. Last of all I +will mention the potato, which has spread over the whole earth with +such rapidity from the mountains of the New World that in many places +it threatens, not exactly to the advantage of mankind, to supplant +every other culture. + + + + + PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS + --ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT + + +The carpet of flowers and of verdure spread over the naked crust of +our planet is unequally woven; it is thicker where the sun rises high +in the ever cloudless heavens and thinner toward the poles, in the +less happy climes where returning frosts often destroy the opening +buds of spring or the ripening fruits of autumn. Everywhere, however, +man finds some plants to minister to his support and enjoyment. + +Lichens form the first covering of the naked rock, where afterward +lofty forest trees rear their airy summits. The successive growth of +mosses, grasses, herbaceous plants and shrubs or bushes, occupies +the intervening period of long but undetermined duration. The part +which lichens and mosses perform in the northern countries is +effected within the tropics by Portulacas Gomphrenas and other low +and succulent shore-plants. The history of the vegetable covering of +our planet, and its gradual propagation over the desert crust of the +earth, has its epochs as well as that of the migrations of the animal +world. + +When leaving our oak forests, we traverse the Alps or Pyrenees, and +enter Italy or Spain, or when we direct our attention to some of the +African shores of the Mediterranean, we might easily be led to draw +the erroneous inference that hot countries are marked by the absence +of trees. But those who do so, forget that the south of Europe wore +a different aspect on the first arrival of Pelasgian or Carthaginian +colonies; they forget that an ancient civilization causes the +forests to recede more and more, and that the wants and restless +activity of large communities of men gradually despoil the face of +the earth of the refreshing shades which still rejoice the eye in +northern and middle Europe, and which even more than any historic +documents prove the recent date and youthful age of our civilization. + +The deserts to the south of the Atlas, and the immense plains or +steppes of South America, must be regarded as only local phenomena. +The latter, the South American steppes, are clothed, in the rainy +season at least, with grass and with low-growing, almost herbaceous, +mimosas. The African deserts are, indeed, at all seasons, devoid of +vegetation; seas of sand, surrounded by forest shores clothed with +perpetual verdure. A few scattered fan-palms alone recall to the +wanderer’s recollection that these awful solitudes belong to the +domain of the same animated terrestrial creation which is elsewhere +so rich and so varied. The fantastic play of the mirage, occasioned +by the effects of radiant heat, sometimes causes these palm trees +to appear divided from the ground and hovering above its surface, +and sometimes shows their inverted image reflected in strata of +air undulating like the waves of the sea. On the west of the great +Peruvian chain of the Andes, on the coasts of the Pacific, I have +passed entire weeks in traversing similar deserts destitute of water. + +When once a region has lost the covering of plants with which it was +invested, if the sands are loose and mobile and are destitute of +springs, and if the heated atmosphere, forming constantly ascending +currents, prevents precipitation taking place from clouds, thousands +of years may elapse ere organic life can pass from the verdant shores +to the interior of the sandy sea, and repossess itself of the domain +from which it had been banished. + +Those, therefore, who can view nature with a comprehensive glance and +apart from local phenomena, may see from the poles to the equator +organic life and vigor gradually augment with the augmentation of +vivifying heat. But, in the course of this progressive increase, +there are reserved to each zone its own peculiar beauties; to the +tropics, variety and grandeur of vegetable forms; to the north, +the aspect of its meadows and green pastures, and the periodic +reawakening of nature at the first breath of the mild air of +spring. Each zone, besides its own peculiar advantages, has its own +distinctive character. + +In determining leading forms, or types, on the individual beauty, +the distribution, and the grouping of which the physiognomy of the +vegetation of a country depends, we must not follow the march of +systems of botany, in which from other motives the parts chiefly +regarded are the smaller organs of propagation, the flowers and the +fruit; we must, on the contrary, consider solely that which by its +mass stamps a peculiar character on the total impression produced, or +on the aspect of the country. Among the leading forms of vegetation +to which I allude, there are, indeed, some which coincide with +families belonging to the “natural systems” of botanists. + +Such are the forms of bananas, palms, Casuarinæ, and Coniferæ. But +the botanic system divides many groups which the physiognomist is +obliged to unite. + +[Illustration: Herbs, Useful and Medicinal + +1, Myrtle; 2, Myrrh; 3, Hemlock; 4, Wormwood; 5, Frankincense; 6, +Hyssop] + +We will begin with the palms, the loftiest and noblest of all +vegetable forms, that to which the prize of beauty has been assigned +by the concurrent voice of nations in all ages; for the earliest +civilization of mankind belonged to countries bordering on the region +of palms, and to parts of Asia where they abound. Their lofty, +slender, ringed, and, in some cases, prickly stems terminate in +aspiring and shining either fan-like or pinnated foliage. The leaves +are frequently curled, like those of some Gramineæ. Smooth, polished +stems of palms carefully measured by me had attained 192 English feet +in height. In receding from the equator and approaching the temperate +zone, palms diminish in height and beauty. The indigenous vegetation +of Europe only comprises a single representative of this form of +plants, the sea-coast dwarf-palm or Chamærops, which in Spain and +Italy extends as far north as the 44th parallel of latitude. The true +climate of palms has a mean annual temperature of 78°.2-81°.5 Fahr. +The date, which is much inferior in beauty to several other genera, +has been brought from Africa to the south of Europe, where it lives, +but can scarcely be said to flourish, in a mean temperature not +exceeding 59°-62°.4 Fahr. + +In all parts of the globe the palm form is accompanied by that of +plantains or bananas; the Scitamineæ and Musaceæ of botanists, +Heliconia, Amomum, and Strelitzia. In this form, the stems, which +are low, succulent, and almost herbaceous, are surmounted by long, +silky, delicately veined leaves of a thin, loose texture, and bright +and beautiful verdure. Groves of plantains and bananas form the +ornament of moist places in the equatorial regions. + +The form of Malvaceæ and Bombaceæ, represented by Ceiba, +Cavanillesia, and the Mexican hand-tree Cheirostemon, has enormously +thick trunks; large, soft, woolly leaves, either heart-shaped or +indented; and superb flowers, frequently of a purple or crimson hue. +It is to this group of plants that the baobab, or monkey bread-tree +(Adansonia digitata), belongs, which, with a very moderate elevation, +has a diameter of 32 English feet, and is probably the largest and +most ancient organic monument on our planet. In Italy the Malvaceæ +already begin to impart to the vegetation a peculiar southern +character. + +The delicately pinnated foliage of the Mimosa form, of which Acacia, +Desmanthus, Gleditschia, Porleria, and Tamarindus are important +members, is entirely wanting in our temperate zone in the Old +Continent, though found in the United States, where, in corresponding +latitudes, vegetation is more varied and vigorous than in Europe. The +umbrella-like arrangement of the branches, resembling that seen in +the stone-pine in Italy, is very frequent among the Mimosas. The deep +blue of the tropic sky seen through their finely divided foliage has +an extremely picturesque effect. + +The heath form belongs more especially to the African continent and +islands. Arborescent heaths, like some other African plants, extend +to the northern shores of the Mediterranean; they adorn Italy and +the cistus-covered grounds of the south of Spain. In the countries +adjoining the Baltic, and further to the north, the aspect of this +form of plants is unwelcome as announcing sterility. + +The cactus form is almost exclusively American. Sometimes spherical, +sometimes articulated or jointed, and sometimes assuming the shape +of tall, upright polygonal columns resembling the pipes of an organ, +this group presents the most striking contrast to those of Liliaceæ +and bananas. + +While the above-mentioned plants flourish in deserts almost devoid +of vegetation, the Orchideæ enliven the clefts of the wildest rocks +and the trunks of tropical trees blackened by excess of heat. This +form (to which the vanilla belongs) is distinguished by its bright +green succulent leaves, and by its flowers of many colors and strange +and curious shape, sometimes resembling that of winged insects, and +sometimes that of the birds which are attracted by the perfume of the +honey vessels. Such is their number and variety that, to mention only +a limited district, the entire life of a painter would be too short +for the delineation of all the magnificent Orchideæ which adorn the +recesses of the deep valleys of the Andes of Peru. + +The Casuarina form, leafless, like almost all species of cactus, +consists of trees with branches resembling the stalks of our +Equisetums. It is found only in the islands of the Pacific and in +India, but traces of the same singular rather than beautiful type +are seen in other parts of the world. + +As the banana form shows the greatest expansion, so the greatest +contraction of foliage is shown in Casuarinas, and in the form of +needle-trees (Coniferæ). Pines, thuias, and cypresses belong to this +form, which prevails in northern regions, and is comparatively rare +within the tropics: in Dammara and Salisburia the leaves, though +they may still be termed needle-shaped, are broader. In the colder +latitudes, the never-failing verdure of this form of trees cheers +the desolate winter landscape, and tells to the inhabitants of those +regions that when snow and ice cover the ground the inward life of +plants, like the Promethean fire, is never extinct upon our planet. + +Like mosses and lichens in our latitudes, and like Orchideæ in the +tropical zone, plants of the Pothos form clothe parasitically the +trunks of aged and decaying forest trees: succulent herbaceous stalks +support large leaves, sometimes sagittate, sometimes either digitate +or elongate, but always with thick veins. The flowers of the Aroideæ +are cased in hooded spathes or sheaths, and in some of them when they +expand a sensible increase of vital heat is perceived. Stemless, they +put forth aerial roots. Pothos, Dracontium, Caladium, and Arum all +belong to this form, which prevails chiefly in the tropical world. On +the Spanish and Italian shores of the Mediterranean, Arums combine +with the succulent Tussilago, the acanthus, and thistles, which are +almost arborescent, to indicate the increasing luxuriance of southern +vegetation. + +Next to the last-mentioned form, of which the Pothos and Arum are +representatives, I place a form with which, in the hottest parts of +South America, it is frequently associated--that of the tropical +twining rope-plants, or Lianes, which display in those regions, in +Paullinias, Banisterias, Bignonias, and Passifloras, the utmost vigor +of vegetation. It is represented to us in the temperate latitudes by +our twining hops and by our grapevines. On the banks of the Orinoco +the leafless branches of the Bauhinias are often between 40 and 50 +feet long; sometimes they hang down perpendicularly from the high top +of the Swietenia, and sometimes they are stretched obliquely like the +cordage of a ship; the tiger-cats climb up and descend by them with +wonderful agility. + +In strong contrast with the extreme flexibility and fresh, +light-colored verdure of the climbing plants, of which we have just +been speaking, are the rigid, self-supporting growth and bluish +hue of the form of the Aloes, which, instead of plaint stems and +branches of enormous length, are either without stems altogether or +have branchless stems. The leaves, which are succulent, thick, and +fleshy, and terminate in long points, radiate from a centre and form +a closely crowded tuft. The tall-stemmed aloes are not found in close +clusters or thickets like other social or gregarious plants or trees; +they stand singly in arid plains, and impart thereby to the tropical +regions in which they are found a peculiar, melancholy, and I would +almost venture to call it, African character. Taking for our guides +resemblance in physiognomy, and influence on the impression produced +by the landscape, we place together under the head of the Aloe form +(from among the Bromeliaceæ), the Pitcairnias, which in the chain +of the Andes grow out of clefts in the rocks; the great Pourretia +pyramidata (the Atschupalla of the elevated plains of New Granada); +the American Aloe (Agave); Bromelia aranas and Bromelia karatas; +from among the Euphorbiaceæ the rare species which have thick, short +candelabra-like divided stems; from the family of Asphodeleæ the +African Aloe and the Dragon tree (Dracæna draco); and lastly, from +among the Liliaceæ, the tall, flowering Yucca. + +If the Aloe form is characterized by an almost mournful repose +and immobility, the form of Gramineæ, especially the physiognomy +of arborescent grasses, is characterized, on the contrary, by an +expression of cheerfulness and of airy grace and tremulous lightness, +combined with lofty stature. Both in the East and West Indies groves +of bamboo form shaded overarching walks or avenues. The smooth, +polished and often lightly waving and bending stems of these tropical +grasses are taller than our alders and oaks. The form of Gramineæ +begins even in Italy, in the Arundo donax, to rise from the ground +and to determine by height as well as mass the natural character and +aspect of the country. + +The form of ferns, as well as that of grasses, becomes ennobled in +the hotter parts of the globe. Arborescent ferns, when they reach a +height of above forty feet, have something of a palm-like appearance; +but their stems are less slender, shorter, and more rough and scaly +than those of palms. Their foliage is more delicate, of a thinner and +more transparent texture, and the minutely indented margins of the +fronds are finely and sharply cut. Tree ferns belong almost entirely +to the tropical zone, but in that zone they seek by preference the +more tempered heat of a moderate elevation above the level of the +sea, and mountains two or three thousand feet high may be regarded +as their principal seat. In South America the arborescent ferns are +usually associated with the tree which has conferred such benefits on +mankind by its fever-healing bark. Both indicate by their presence +the happy region where reigns a soft, perpetual spring. + +I will next name the form of Liliaceous plants (Amaryllis, Ixia, +Gladiolus, Pancratium), with their flag-like leaves and superb +blossoms, of which southern Africa is the principal country; also the +willow form, which is indigenous in all parts of the globe, and is +represented in the elevated plains of Quito (not in the shape of the +leaves, but in that of the ramification), by Schinus Molle; Mytraceæ +(Metrosideros, Eucalyptus, Escallonia myrtilloides); Melastomaceæ, +and the laurel form. + +It is under the burning rays of a tropical sun that vegetation +displays its most majestic forms. In the cold north the bark of trees +is covered with lichens and mosses, while between the tropics the +Cymbidium and fragrant vanilla enliven the trunks of the Anacardia +and of the gigantic fig-trees. The fresh verdure of the Pothos leaves +and of the Dracontia contrasts with the many colored flowers of +the Orchideæ; Climbing Bauhinias, Passifloras, and yellow flowering +Banisterias twine round the trunks of the forest trees. Delicate +blossoms spring from the roots of the Theobroma, and from the thick +and rough bark of the Crescentias and the Gustavia. In the midst +of this profusion of flowers and fruits, and in the luxuriant +intertwinings of the climbing plants, the naturalist often finds it +difficult to discover to which stem the different leaves and flowers +really belong. A single tree adorned with Paullinias, Bignonias, +and Dendrobium forms a group of plants which, if disentangled and +separated, would cover a considerable space of ground. + +In the tropics vegetation is generally of a fresher verdure, more +luxuriant and succulent, and adorned with larger and more shining +leaves than in our northern climates. The “social” plants, which +often impart so uniform and monotonous a character to European +countries, are almost entirely absent in the equatorial regions. +Trees almost as lofty as our oaks are adorned with flowers as large +and as beautiful as our lilies. On the shady banks of the Rio +Magdalena in South America, there grows a climbing Aristolochia +bearing flowers four feet in circumference which the Indian boys +draw over their heads in sport, and wear as hats or helmets. In the +islands of the Indian Archipelago the flower of the Rafflesia is +nearly three feet in diameter, and weighs above fourteen pounds. + + + + + THE GENESIS OF FLOWERS + --ALEXANDER S. WILSON + + +The flowers most generally known are brightly colored flowers adapted +for insect fertilization; only these require to attract insects, +which is the end served by the perfume and conspicuous coloring. Very +many plants, however, bear blossoms so small and obscurely colored +that they are either entirely overlooked or not reckoned as flowers +at all. The wind-fertilized flowers of the dock and nettle have no +occasion for the services of insects, and are destitute of honey, +odor, and brilliant petals. Still more insignificant in appearance +are the little self-fertilizing cleistogamic flowers, which, toward +the end of the season, are produced on the dog-violet. All three +kinds possess stamens and pistils, and are therefore recognized as +flowers by botanists. Besides stamens and pistils, which are the +essential organs of a flower, petals and sepals are usually present. +The petals collectively compose the corolla, the sepals the calyx; +both together being spoken of as the floral envelopes or perianth. +Occasionally, as in the ash, the flower is reduced to its essential +organs, the floral envelopes being absent. Plants bearing flowers, +whether with or without floral envelopes, are designated phanerogams +or flowering plants; they constitute the highest division of the +vegetable kingdom. Ferns and mosses, again, are examples of the +cryptogamic or flowerless class; they never bear flowers or seeds, +but are propagated by minute reproductive bodies termed spores. +This class is divided into thallophytes and vascular cryptogams. The +organization of a thallophyte is very simple; the plant body of a +fungus or sea-weed, for example, consists entirely of similar cells, +and externally shows no distinction into root, stem, and leaf. The +structure of a vascular cryptogam, such as a club-moss, horsetail, +or fern, is more complicated; both cells and vessels enter into the +composition of its tissues, and externally the distinction of stem +and leaf is apparent. Phanerogams also admit of a twofold division +into gymnosperms and angiosperms; conifers, cycads, and yews are +gymnospermous, having naked seeds, exposed either on the ends of +branches or on the surface of open scales. All ordinary flowering +plants produce their seed in the interior of a closed, ovary, as the +lower part of the pistil is called; from this peculiarity they are +termed angiosperms. + +Only the remains of thallophytes have hitherto been discovered +in the oldest Palæozoic rocks. Vascular cryptogams appear in the +Silurian strata, attain their maximum in the Carboniferous age, and +in succeeding formations are gradually displaced by gymnosperms. The +latter occur as early as the Devonian period, but the prevailing type +of vegetation down to the close of Palæozoic time continued to be +cryptogamic. Angiosperms possibly existed as far back as the Permian +times, but it is only in the chalk that their remains begin to be +abundant; the vast majority of Mesozoic plants seem to have belonged +to the gymnospermous type. Plants with conspicuous flowers only date +from Tertiary times; they increase in number and importance as we +approach the present day. + +Although the plants entombed in the rocks are only an inconsiderable +fraction of the numbers that formerly existed, the general succession +just indicated is fully made out, and as the palæontological evidence +accumulates it tends more and more to establish the view that colored +blossoms are, geologically speaking, of comparatively recent origin. +The vegetation of the earlier geological epochs was marked by a +singular uniformity of character; not only were there fewer species +than now, and these widely distributed over the globe, but the +monotonous green of Palæozoic and Mesozoic forests was unrelieved by +gay blossoms such as adorn our fields and orchards. We are indebted +to geology for another important fact; fossil plants occur which have +no near relatives in the existing flora. Intermediate forms which can +not properly be classified with any living family are met with; in +others the characters of several modern groups are blended. Although +these generalized forms rather upset our systems of classification, +they have an important bearing on the origin of living plants. +But what a different aspect, when the coal plants were growing in +primeval luxuriance, the landscape must have worn from that on which +we are accustomed to look! Odd, uncouth lepidodendra of arborescent +growth, huge reed-like calamites, gigantic ferns stretched in +interminable forests, clothed in one unvaried tint of sombre green. +How different is the scene which nature now presents!--mountains +glowing with the purple bloom of heather; hillsides where the furze +has spread its cloth of gold; meadows bright with daisies, ranunculi, +and cuckoo-flowers; banks where the wild thyme and bluebell grow! The +contrast affords a hint of the transformation in our world effected +by the introduction of flowers. + +Our knowledge may not enable us to describe all the minute steps +which led to this remarkable change, but we can at least indicate +with great probability the nature of the process and some of the +agencies which contributed to bring about this result. To suppose +that each species of plant was independently created as we now see +it, implies not one creation merely, but many successive creations; +moreover, it leaves unexplained all the curious affinities which +exist among the members of the vegetable kingdom. The gradations of +structure, the geological succession, and the peculiarities of plant +growth are much more intelligible when we view the plants which now +inhabit the earth as the lineal descendants of those which lived +during the earlier ages of geology. From the nature of the case, the +theory of development does not admit of actual demonstration; still +the evidence in support of it is such that its advocates are entitled +to claim a verdict on the mass of indirect and circumstantial +evidence. + +Among palæozoic cryptogams, we have evidence of the existence of +structures which, with comparatively little modification, might be +converted into what we now regard as flowers. The abundant remains +of lepidodendra in the Coal-measures testify to the important +place attained by the group of lycopods, or club mosses, in the +Palæozoic flora. To this family might very well have belonged +the archetype from which our modern blossom-bearing plants have +come. Our knowledge of this group is derived both from fossil +remains and from forms still extant. The selaginellas, so commonly +cultivated in greenhouses, are examples; also the little club moss +(Lycopodium selaginodes) of our highland moors. The last mentioned, +though a diminutive form, possesses special interest, being one of +the vascular cryptogams which produce two kinds of spores. This +heterosporous character was, however, a common feature of extinct +lycopods; both large and small spores have been detected in great +numbers in coal. + +The internal anatomy of the Lycopodiaceæ is somewhat complex, but +their external organization is simple. A club moss consists of a +cylindrical stem covered with overlapping leaves, spirally arranged, +of small size relatively to the stem, and always simple or undivided. +The stem branches in a peculiar forked manner, which gives the +plant its characteristic candelabra-like form. Existing lycopods +are creeping plants, seldom exceeding two feet in height, but many +extinct species attained the dimensions of large trees. On the ends +of certain branches the leaves are crowded together, giving the +terminal portion of each shoot some resemblance to a pine-cone. The +crowded leaves on this portion bear, on their upper surfaces, little +sacs called sporangia. Certain of these sacs contain very numerous +small, rounded bodies, the microspores; others have fewer spores +of larger size, distinguished as macrospores. Sacs containing the +small male spores are termed microsporangia; those having the large +female spores, macrosporangia. When ripe, a sporangium bursts and +discharges its spores, which are scattered by the wind. Should a +spore alight on a favorable spot, it germinates after a time and +gives rise to a structure called a prothallus, which is really an +independent plant. This stage in the life-history of a cryptogam is, +however, much better seen in ferns, where the prothallus is entirely +expelled from the spore and attains a higher degree of independent +development. The prothallus throws out root-hairs, nourishes +itself and grows, but the leaf-like form it assumes bears not the +remotest resemblance to the parent fern from which it sprang. This +phenomenon, characteristic of the higher cryptogams, is known as the +“alternation of generations,” or “alternate generations.” Similar +phases are observed in certain animals, the medusæ or jelly fishes, +for example. In the course of its development, a fern passes through +two distinct phases; first, the spore-bearing stage or sporophyte, +represented by the fern frond; second, the egg-bearing stage, the +oöphyte or prothallus. As we ascend in the scale of vegetable life, +the egg-bearing or sexual generation diminishes in importance, +while the sporophyte preponderates more and more. In club mosses, +the prothallus has all but lost its independence; in the case of +the selaginella it is formed almost entirely within the spore, only +a small part being extruded when the spore ruptures. Some of the +lycopods are inosporous--that is, they have, like the ferns, but +one kind of spore. Where this is the case, the prothallus developed +from the spore bears two sets of sexual organs; the prothallus of +one of the heterosporous cryptogams, on the other hand, produces +sexual organs of one kind only. Antheridia appear on the prothallus +developed from a small spore; archegonia on that from a large one. +The former are the male organs, and from them are emitted numerous +antherozoids, minute ciliated bodies, which swarm over damp surfaces +in all directions. The archegonia are microscopic flasks, each +containing an egg-cell or oösphere; they are entered by one or more +of the locomotive antherozoids, which coalesce with the egg-cell; the +latter is thereby fertilized, and soon grows by cell division into a +plant resembling that from which the spores were originally obtained. +The life-history of a vascular cryptogam is, so to speak, a story +completed in two volumes. + +Microscopic research has revealed a most interesting relationship +between flowering plants and the heterosporous cryptogams. When the +development of a pollen grain in the anther of an ordinary flower is +studied and compared with that of a microspore, the two are found +to agree in a remarkable manner. The sporangium corresponds in all +essential points with the pollen-sac, and its generatic tissue +develops in similar fashion to that from which the pollen grains +originate. In both cases an archesporium is produced by the division +of a hypodermal cell; this tissue next divides into a tapetal layer +and a row of mother-cells; the tapetal layer dissolves, isolating +the mother-cells, each of which then forms in its interior four +daughter-cells, which are the spores or pollen grains, as the case +may be. Not only are the antecedents of microspores and pollen +grains alike, but their subsequent histories offer many points of +resemblance. Pollen grains are known in numerous instances to form +in their interior one or more vegetative cells, which can hardly be +regarded as other than a rudimentary male prothallus, such as is +commonly developed by a microspore. + +There is another bond of connection between flowering and flowerless +plants of equal or even greater importance. In the interior of the +ovule, or young seed, both of angiosperms and gymnosperms, a special +cell is developed, called the embryo-sac. When the history of this +cell is traced back, its development is found to be exactly that of +a spore. Certain structures are also formed in its interior bearing +the closest analogy to the internal prothallus observed in the +macrospore of selaginella. These are most obvious in the embryo-sacs +of gymnosperms, where the prothallus is represented by the endosperm, +while the corpuscula, or secondary embryo-sacs--arising on this +are the undoubted equivalents of the archegonia of ferns and other +cryptogams. The gymnosperms thus stand midway between vascular +cryptogams and angiosperms; but even within the embryo-sac of the +latter, in the so-called antipodal cells, may still be detected +vestiges of the oöphyte or sexual generation, that structure so +characteristic of the flowerless class. An alternation of generations +can thus be traced throughout the greater part of the vegetable +kingdom, from the lowest scale mosses through the urn mosses, ferns, +horsetails, lycopods, and conifers up to the highest members of the +phanerogamic division. But of more importance for our present purpose +is the certain identification of the pollen grain and embryo-sac of +flowering plants with the microspore and macrospore of the older +cryptogams. The stamen of a flower turns out to be simply a peculiar +form of microsporangium, while the ovule is a macrosporangium, +containing but one macrospore, or occasionally developing several. +It follows, therefore, that we have only to enlarge our conception +sufficiently to see in the spore-bearing cones of the lycopods +structures of essentially the same nature as flowers. All the +materials that go to the making of a flower could thus have been +furnished by the flowerless flora of Palæozoic ages. + +An important change, which marked the transition from cryptogams +to flowering plants, must now be mentioned, and to this the animal +kingdom furnishes a striking analogy. The lowest vertebrates, such +as fishes, are oviparous; the ova are discharged and afterward +incubated. Mammals, on the other hand, are viviparous; the young are +hatched within the body of the parent. The young of the kangaroo and +other marsupials, which constitute the lowest order of mammals, are +still very immature at birth. Analagous conditions are found among +plants. Cryptogams are all oviparous; the macrospore, which may be +regarded as the ovum or egg, separates from the parent plant before +fertilization. Phanerogams, on the other hand, may be described +as viviparous, since they retain the macrospore or ovum until it +has developed an embryo. The presence of an embryo constitutes the +distinction between a seed and a spore. Unless an embryo be present +a seed can not germinate, since germination is simply the emergence +of the embryo from the coats of the seed. An extreme case of this +retention is seen in the mangrove, where the seed germinates while +still attached to the tree; the embryo sends down its long radicle +into the mud, and only quits its hold of the parent when it has +become firmly established. Orchids and many parasitic plants have +seeds with exceedingly minute and imperfect embryos, recalling the +undeveloped offspring of the marsupials. + +The retention of the egg is attended with a manifest advantage; +plainly the viviparous method of reproduction, which obtains in +the higher divisions of the two organic kingdoms, is much more +economical than the other. By the change to the viviparous condition, +several structures present in the cryptogams are rendered useless, +and a disused organ invariably degenerates; the prothallus and its +adjuncts, having no longer any function to perform, must inevitably +begin to atrophy. The rudimentary structures appearing in the +embryo-sac of phanerogams can in this way be accounted for. The +life-history of a cryptogam extends, as we have seen, to two volumes; +it now appears that the life-history of a phanerogam is a second +edition, of the same story, somewhat abridged and completed in a +single volume. + +The life-history of certain ferns occasionally undergoes a +corresponding abbreviation. In the phenomena of apospory and apogamy +we have departures from the ordinary course of development, closely +akin to what would be required for the conversion of a cryptogam +into a phanerogam. Apospory occurs when the production of spores +is omitted, the prothallus growing immediately on the fern frond; +apogamy, when the female organs are not developed, and the frond is +formed by vegetative growth directly from the prothallus. + +There is another fact of which account must be taken. In +different groups of plants, in proportion to the complexity of +their organization, the female cell tends to increase in size +and importance. This is probably accompanied by a chemical or +physiological enrichment of the substance of the egg-cell, +rendering a higher degree of protection desirable. The inclosure +of the embryo-sac within the ovule becomes in these circumstances +an advantage. But by this investment, and by the ovule remaining +attached to the parent plant, the microspore is of necessity reduced +to the condition of a parasite, and the conversion of the male +prothallus into a pollen tube becomes intelligible as a case of +degeneration. + +The closed seed-vessel of angiosperms, there can be little doubt, has +in like manner been acquired for the purpose of excluding fungous +spores, bacteria, and other destructive germs from the ovules. Van +Tieghem found that when the pistil of a flower was opened the ovules +could not be directly fertilized, but were invariably attacked by +bacteria. The resinous secretions of conifers act as a germicide, +rendering less essential the protection of the seeds, which is the +rôle of the pistil in angiosperms. + +The gradations between stamens, petals and sepals seen in the +water-lily, and the conversion of stamens into petals in the garden +rose, suggest a possible variation which would explain the first +appearance of the floral envelopes. The nectary may not improbably +be a transformed water gland, turned to account as an attraction to +visitors, and so of use in promoting cross-fertilization. Every new +character tending directly or indirectly to secure this advantage +would be perpetuated; the colors, perfumes, mechanism, and most of +the peculiarities of flowers become intelligible when viewed as +results due to the selective agency of insects. + + + + + LIFE HISTORY OF PLANTS + --E. W. PREVOST + + +The plant possesses a distinct set of organs capable of absorbing +mineral food dissolved in water, and there are also means whereby +oxygen and carbonic acid gas can be inspired and transformed into +tissue. The young sprout, being at first incapable of seeking for its +food, is dependent on its seed for its supplies, consisting of two +distinct substances--nitrogenous or albuminous matter, and oil and +starchy matters. These two last might have been classed separately, +but it is unnecessary here to draw any distinction between them, for +it appears that the oil is, during germination, for the most part +converted into starch. The effect of moisture and warmth causes +the seed to sprout, throw out a stem and root, but these being but +feeble must be supplied with food ready prepared, and it is under the +influence of the oxygen which obtains access to the seed that a small +portion of the albuminous matters contained in the seed is altered, +and the products act as a ferment which attacks the insoluble starch, +converting it into a sugar that can pass with the water always +present into the small sprout; when there it becomes again insoluble, +and adds to the structure of the rapidly increasing seedling. The +first part of this change, such as the starch has undergone, is well +exemplified in the malting of barley, which, after its removal from +the malt-house, contains a large amount of “glucose,” a kind of sugar +which is recognized readily by the taste. The transformation of a +portion of the albuminous matter into a ferment not only results +in the conversion of starch into sugar, but at the same time the +remainder of the albuminoids are rendered soluble and without any +change in their composition; they can then accompany the glucose +during its passage into the seedling. We see then that the seed is +a storehouse for the young plant, providing nourishment until it is +strong enough to send down roots into the earth, and put out leaves +into the air to seek out food for itself. When the plant becomes +strong, and is no longer dependent on the seed for its food, the +chemical processes which take place are still more wonderful; how +some of the new substances are formed, or why the absence of some one +ingredient of the soil (generally present in very small quantities) +should produce certain well-known results, is still unknown. From +the soil and by the roots are derived the mineral matters and the +nitrogen; the latter in the form of nitrates, which in the plant are +completely changed in character, being no longer a combination of +nitric acid with a base, but the base has been separated, and the +nitrogen of the acid, combined with sulphur, hydrogen, and oxygen, is +deposited in the new form of albumenoid matter, which is insoluble +in water; but being insoluble, and deposited in the minute cells of +the plant, it would appear impossible that it could migrate from one +part to another, and this would be the case if no other substance +were present; but phosphate of potassium is absorbed by the plant, +and this coming in contact with the albumenoids renders them soluble; +they can now pass through the cell-walls of the stem, and upward into +the seed, where they are stored for future use. Phosphates are also +necessary for the production of certain fats, of which they form a +part, for the fat of the horse-chestnut and oak contains a small +percentage of phosphorus. Of the other salts sucked up by the roots, +the sulphate of lime is worthy of mention, as it is necessary to the +formation of albumenoids, sulphur being an essential ingredient of +these matters, whereas phosphorus is not; and also many essential +oils require this element in their composition, and it is to its +presence that the oils of black mustard and garlic owe their peculiar +pungency. + +The function which many of the other ingredients found in the ashes +of plants perform is still somewhat uncertain, but all experiments +indicate that potash, lime, and magnesia (the alkaline earths, as +these last two are termed) are indispensable to the life of the +plant, and that the absence of iron is accompanied by abnormalities +of growth. When a soil contains no iron, and this does not occur +naturally, the foliage loses its green color, the loss being due to +the non-formation of chlorophyl, or the green coloring matter, and +where this is absent, the process of assimilation as performed by the +leaves ceases, and therefore the plant is in an unhealthy condition; +when we come to speak of the respiration and assimilation of plants, +an explanation of these terms will be given, but at present a few +words on the use of potash, soda, and silica will not be out of +place; but we will not attempt to dilate on the uses of other ash +ingredients, such as chlorine, for, as before stated, there is no +accurate information concerning them, but that they are requisite is +certain, while what their functions may be is uncertain. + +For general purposes, the chemist considers that the alkalies, potash +and soda, are interchangeable, that what soda will do so will potash, +and as the former is the cheaper, it is therefore more generally +employed. Plants, however, detect a difference, for we find both soda +and potash present in their ash in varying quantities, and neither +of them entirely absent, so that each must have a distinct part to +play; still, to a certain extent, they are interchangeable, for +cultivation greatly alters the proportions in which they are present, +and this alteration is very marked in the case of the asparagus, +which when growing wild contains equal quantities of these bases, +but by cultivation nearly the whole of the soda disappears, while +the potash increases nearly threefold. Silica or sand is to be found +in every soil, either in the free or combined state, and hence we +might suppose that it was indispensable, and certainly it exists +in every plant in large proportions, more especially in the hard +outer parts, the straw and stems containing a very large quantity of +this substance, which is generally considered to be necessary for +their rigidity. There are some very remarkable instances known in +which deposits of silica are found in plants. Very notable is that +occurring in the joints of the bamboo, resembling opal, and bearing +the same _tabasheer_; but yet, though silica exists universally in +plants, its absence (under artificial conditions) does not seem to +prevent their full development. + +The alkaline earths, as well as potash, seem to be necessary for the +formation of the various salts, such as the oxalate of lime in the +leaves of beet and in the common rhubarb, or the oxalate of potash in +the wood sorrel. These bases are introduced in the form of nitrate +and sulphate or phosphate, but in the plant they separate from the +acid, and combine with new acids, which are elaborated through the +agency of the leaves. + +Having glanced at the functions performed by the mineral +constituents, we will pass on to those of the leaves, and here as +before no attempt will be made to answer the question, How do the +leaves act? but rather our intention is to show the result of their +action. The leaves are the means whereby the plant communicates with +the air, absorbing from it that portion which is injurious to the +life of animals, namely, carbonic acid gas, which consists of carbon +and oxygen; under the influence of sunlight these two components are +separated in the leaf, the one from the other, the carbon or solid +part remaining in the plant to form all the various compounds, such +as starch, oil, and acids, while the oxygen is exhaled into the air +for the use of animals; this retention of carbon and conversion +into starch, etc., has been termed assimilation, to which we have +already referred; now we can appreciate the immense importance of +plants of all kinds, for without their aid the atmosphere would +become so overburdened with the harmful carbonic acid that it +would no longer support life or combustion. A small experiment +will readily demonstrate the action of leaves on carbonic acid: if +a green laurel-leaf, immersed in a glassful of spring-water, be +exposed to sunlight, a number of small bubbles will soon be noticed +on the surface of the leaf. In a short time they will increase in +size, and finally float to the surface, when by proper means they +can be collected and shown to consist of oxygen, which possesses +the property of causing a glowing splinter of wood to burst into +flame when introduced into it. This oxygen has been produced by +the decomposition of the carbonic acid dissolved in the water. It +would be incorrect to suppose that the leaves absorb no oxygen, +but always give it out, for at all times a proportion of oxygen is +inspired, and in the dark, carbonic acid is exhaled, yet the quantity +is always less than that of the oxygen exhaled during the day, and +at low temperatures the amount of oxygen absorbed exceeds that of +the carbonic acid. How to account for the production of starch from +the materials at the disposal of the plant is somewhat difficult; +but, theoretically, six volumes of carbonic acid combining with +five volumes of water produce starch, six volumes of oxygen being +liberated; but when once the starch is produced, we know, from +laboratory experiments, that sugar can easily be produced from it +as well as oxalic acid, etc. The purpose of the leaves is not only +to collect air food, but also to get rid of superfluous water, for +the roots are continually pumping in water laden with mineral food, +so that to allow of the circulation and deposition of this food the +water must be got rid of. This water is exhaled from the leaves in +the form of invisible vapor, but the quantity depends on the state of +the atmosphere, which when moist almost wholly prevents exhalation; +on the other hand, in very dry weather, exhalation takes place too +rapidly, and the plant withers. Light exerts also a very great +influence; the stronger the light the greater is the amount of water +exhaled, and, generally speaking, the maximum occurs shortly after +midday. During hot and dry weather a grass plant has been known to +exhale its own weight in water during the twenty-four hours. From +what has been now said, it will be seen how necessary are plants +to animals, and animals to plants, as without the one the other +would not long survive; for when the atmosphere became exhausted of +carbonic acid, which is formed by animals, the plants would have +no means of building up starch, etc. The great difference between +plants and animals should also be noted, that whereas the plant +is continually feeding only to increase and store up material, the +animal feeds to increase and repair the waste that is continually +proceeding. + + + + + LIFE-FORMS OF PLANTS + --EDWARD CLODD + + +If the life-forms of the past somewhat baffle us by their scantiness +and imperfectness, those of the present embarrass us by their +abundance. But although the existing species of plants and animals +are numbered by hundreds of thousands, and the tale is not yet +complete, they are classified into a few primary divisions or +sub-kingdoms, representing certain allied types, of which the +several species included in each sub-kingdom are modified forms. For +example, flies and lobsters, beetles and crabs, are grouped in the +sub-kingdom of the _Annulosa_, because they are alike composed of +distinct segments; boys and frogs, pigs and herrings, are grouped +in the sub-kingdom of the _Vertebrata_, because they alike possess +an internal bony skeleton, the most important feature of which is +the spine or vertebral column. And this classification is applicable +alike to past and present organism, there being throughout the whole +series of fossil remains no form, however unlike any existing living +thing, that is not to be placed in one or other of the sub-kingdoms. + +Moreover, a fundamental unity underlies and pervades the whole, a +unity of material, of form, and of function, the differences between +organisms, from the slime of a stagnant ditch to the most complex +animal, being in degree and in kind. Therefore, although each genus, +nay, in most cases, each species, needs for its complete study the +labor of a lifetime, it suffices for the majority of us, grateful for +the results which the zeal of specialists has achieved, to acquaint +ourselves with the essential characteristics which mark the main +division of the twin sciences of _Botany_ and _Zoology_. Not only +is this the only possible thing for us; it is the one thing needful +for all, specialists and non-specialists, otherwise the significance +of facts, in their relation and dependence, is missed; the larger +generalizations are swamped in a sea of detail; we can not, as the +phrase goes, see the wood for the trees. + +In the old definition of the three kingdoms of nature, the mineral, +the vegetable, and the animal, we were taught that plants grow and +live, while animals grow, live, and move. But this no longer holds +good, at least in respect of the lower forms. There are locomotive +plants and animals that are stationary. + +The swarm-cells or zoospores which are expelled from some of the +lower plants, as algæ and certain fungi, behave like animals, darting +through the water by the aid of hair-like filaments called vibratile +cilia, finally settling down and growing into new plants; others, as +diatoms and desmids, are locomotive throughout life; certain marine +animals, as sponges and corals, are rooted to the spot where they +grow; while there are organisms which appear to be plants at one +stage of their growth, and animals at another stage. + +Other marks of supposed unlikeness have vanished. It was formerly +held that among the distinctive features of animals are (1) a sac +or cavity in which to receive and digest food; (2) the power to +absorb oxygen and exhale carbonic acid; and (3) a nervous system. +But although nearly all animals, in virtue of their food being +solid, have a mouth and an alimentary cavity, there are certain +forms without them, and although plants, in virtue of their food +being liquid or gaseous, need not have that cavity, there are plants +that have it. Not only is the process of digestion apparent in the +leaves of carnivorous plants, but embryonic forms have been found to +secrete a ferment similar to the ferment in the pancreatic secretion +of animals, and by which they dissolve and utilize the food-stores in +their seed-lobes as completely as food is digested in our stomachs. +And although green plants, under the action of light, break up +carbonic acid and release the oxygen, they do the reverse in the +dark, as also in respiration; while the quasi-animal fungi, which are +independent of light, absorb oxygen and give off carbonic acid. + +In the “irritability” of the sundew, Venus’s fly-trap, and other +sensitive plants, still more so in subtile and hidden movements in +plant-cells, we have actions corresponding to those called “reflex” +in animals, as the contraction of the shapeless amœba when touched, +or the involuntary closing of our eyelid when the eye is threatened, +or the drawing back of one’s feet when tickled. The filament in +the amœba which transmits the impulsion, causing it to contract +differs only in one degree from the sensory nerves in ourselves +which transmit the impression to the motor nerves, causing the +muscles to act; and since there is every reason for referring the +contractile actions of plants--_i. e._, their movements in obedience +to stimulus--to like causes, the germs of a nervous system must be +conceded to them. The minute observations of Mr. Darwin and his son +into the large class of quasi-animal movements common to wellnigh +all vegetable life go far to confirm this. The highly sensitive tip +of the slowly revolving root, in directing the movements of the +adjoining parts, transmitting sensation from cell to cell, “acts like +the brain of one of the lower animals; the brain being seated within +the anterior end of the body, receiving impressions from the sense +organs and directing the several movements.” + +In these and kindred vital processes, in the so-called sleep of +leaves, and the opening and closing of flowers, both regulated by the +amount of light, apparently acting on them as it acts on our nervous +system; in the detection of subtle differences in light, which escape +the human eye, by plants; in their general sensitiveness to external +influences, even in the diseases which attack them, the study of +which Sir James Paget has commended to pathologists, we have the +rudiments of attributes and powers which reach their full development +in the higher animals, and therefore a series of fundamental +correspondences between plant and animal which point to the merging +of their apparent differences in one community of origin. + +In fine, that which was once thought special to one is found to +be common to both, and to this there is no exception. Not only is +there correspondence in external form in the lower life groups, but, +fundamentally, plants and animals are alike in internal structure and +in the discharge of the mysterious process of nutrition (although +this forms a convenient line of separation) and of reproduction. +All, from the lowest to the highest, have their unity and kinship in +ancestral life which was neither plant nor animal. + +Of course, the difficulty of classifying vanishes in the higher +forms; the lowest plants are allied to the lowest animals, but the +higher the plant the more it diverges from the animal, which is +evidence that in the succession of life the highest plants do not +pass into the lower animals. Descent is not lineal, but lateral; +the relations between the two kingdoms are represented by two lines +starting from a common point and spreading in different directions. +Even the “lower” and “higher” are relative terms; the organization of +the amœba is as complete for its purpose, as is that of the man for +his purpose, the modification in the complex forms being due to the +division of functions which are performed in every part by the simple +forms. + +Although the foregoing and numberless other facts, together with the +law of continuity, alike forbid the drawing of any hard and fast +lines, and involve the conclusion, to borrow Professor Huxley’s +words, “that the difference between animal and plant is one of +degree rather than of kind, and that the problem whether, in a +given case, an organism is an animal or a plant may be essentially +insoluble,” there exists, exceptions notwithstanding, a broad +distinction in the mode of nutrition. + + “All things the world which fill + Of but one stuff are spun,” + +and this stuff, the basis of all life, the formative power, is a +semi-fluid, sticky material, full of numberless minute granules in +ceaseless and rapid motion, to which the name “protoplasm” (Gr. +_protos_, first; _plasma_, formed) has been given. It consists of +four of the elementary substances, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and +nitrogen, complexly united in the compound called _protein_, which is +closely identical with the albumen or white of an egg. These are the +_essential_ elements, but a few others enter into the chemistry of +life, with slight resulting differences in the _incidental_ elements +in animals and plants. As water is necessary to all vital processes, +a very large proportion enters into living matter. + +But there is this fundamental and significant difference between the +two kingdoms. The plant possesses the mysterious power of weaving +the visible out of the invisible; of converting the lifeless into +the living. This it does in virtue of the chlorophyll, or green +coloring matter, which is found united with definite portions of the +protoplasm-mass, of which it is a modification, the exact nature +being unknown. The water and the carbonic acid which the plant +absorbs through the numberless stomata or mouth-pores in its leaves +or integument are, when the sunlight falls upon them, broken up by +the chlorophyll, which sets free the oxygen, and locks together the +hydrogen and carbon, converting this hydro-carbon into the simple and +complex cells and tissues of the plant, with their store of energy +for service to itself and other organisms. Animals, a few low forms +excepted, can not do this; they are powerless to convert water, +salts, gases, or any other inorganic substances, into organic; they +are able only to assimilate the matter thus supplied by the plant, +nourishing themselves therewith either directly, by eating the plant, +or indirectly, by eating some plant-feeding animal. + +In other words, the plant manufactures protein from the mineral +world, and the animal obtains the protein ready-made; the plant +converts the simple into the complex; and this the animal, by +combining it with oxygen, consumes, using up the energy it thereby +obtains in doing work. So the plant is the origin of all the energy +possessed by living things, but why it can by virtue of the sunshine +convert the stable inorganic into the unstable organic, while the +animal can not, we do not know. Neither do we know whether plant +preceded animal, or _vice versâ_, in life’s beginnings, although +the evidence seems to point in favor of the priority of the plant. +Structurally the lowest animal is below the lowest plant, since it is +a speck of formless, colorless protoplasm, whereas the protoplasm of +the lowest plant is organized to the extent that it has formed for +itself an outer layer or membraneous coat called the cell-wall. For +example, the vegetable character of yeast-granules is determined, +apart from their mode of nutrition, by the protoplasm being inclosed +within a cellulose coat, and the animal character of the amœba, +not because of contractile or locomotive power or of inability to +manufacture protein from inorganic matter, but by the absence of any +such covering. Upon this Haeckel remarks that the vegetable cells +sealed their fate when inclosed within a hard thick cellular shell, +being thereby less accessible to external influence, and less able to +combine for the construction of nervous and muscular tissues than the +animal. + +But since the function creates the organ, and where function is not +localized there is no variation of parts, life probably began in +formless combinations having no visible distinction of parts. And as +the cell is the first step in organization, it is the fundamental +structure of living things, “it marks only where the vital tides have +been or how they have acted,” the lowest organisms consisting of one +cell only, and the higher consisting of many cells, which, increasing +in complexity or diversity of form adapted to their different +functions at later stages, are modified into the special tissues, +with resulting unlikeness in parts or organs, of which all plants and +animals are composed. Every variation in structure is, therefore, due +to cellular changes, and every living thing is propagated in one way +or another by cells, by their self-division or multiplication; or +by gemmation, _i. e._, throwing off buds; or by the union of like +cells; or, in more complex mode, by the spontaneous or aided union of +unlike cells, as the sperm-cell of the male with the germ-cell of the +female, giving rise to a seed or egg from which grows offspring more +or less like its parents. + +In both plant and animal the cell-contents usually, although here +again exceptions occur in some of the lowest organisms, exhibit +a rounded body called the _nucleus_, which itself often incloses +another body called the _nucleolus_, the functions performed by +both of which in cell development are obscure. That even thus much +is known of cell structure may awaken wonder when it is remembered +that we are dealing with bodies for the most part beyond the range +of our unaided vision. Bacon truly says that “the complexity of +nature exceeds the subtlety of man”; the infinite divisibility +and indivisibility of matter is apparent in the organic as in the +inorganic; and size counts for little; the oak and pine, the acacia +and the rose, are lower in scale of life than the thistle and the +daisy; the elephant is 150,000 times heavier than the mouse, but the +egg of the one is nearly as large as that of the other, and it has +been calculated that if one molecule in the nucleus of the ovum of a +mammal were to be lost in every second of time, the whole would not +be exhausted in seventeen years. + +These molecules are the sufficing material media of transmission of +resemblances, both striking and subtle, between parent and offspring; +and of the vast sum total of inherited tendencies, good or bad, which +are the product of no one generation, but which reach us charged +with the gathered force of countless ancestral experiences. + + “Born into life! man grows + Forth from his parents’ stem, + And blends their bloods, as those + Of theirs are blent in them; + So each new man strikes root into a far fore-time.” + + + + + CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS + --LOUIS FIGUIER + + +Every plant which grows on the surface of the earth or in the waters +constitutes a distinct individuality. The careful examination and +comparison of a certain number of these individuals of the vegetable +world will lead to the admission that a great many are quite +identical in some of their characteristics, while others possess no +character in common. Examine the individual plants, for instance, +which compose a field of oats; in each the root, the stem, the +flowers, the fruit, present the same identical characters. The seed +of any one whatever of these plants will yield other plants like +those of the field. Every individual in the field belongs therefore +to the same _species_--to the species Avena sativa. + +The species, then, is a collection of all the individuals which +resemble each other, and which will reproduce other individuals like +themselves. + +These species may present, as the result of diverse influences, such +as change of climate or cultivation, differences more or less marked, +more or less persistent, which withdraw them from the original type. +To these, according to their importance, botanists give the name of +_varieties_ and _sub-varieties_. The wheat-plant, the vine, the pear, +the apple, and most of our cultivated legumes, all yield, under the +influence of culture extending over a long series of years, plants +altogether different from the original in their exterior; but they +preserve, one and all, the essential characters of the species. They +are _varieties_ of the wheat-plant, of the vine, of the pear, of the +apple. + +The assemblage of a certain number of distinct species presenting the +same general characteristics, the same disposition of organs, the +same structure of flower and fruit, constitutes a group to which the +name of _genus_ is applied. Rosa canina, R. villosa, and R. Sabini +are three different species of the same group--the genus Rosa. The +words _oak_, _poplar_, _barley_, are collective common names, which +served, long before botanical science existed, to designate certain +groups of plants. These are true generic names of popular creation, +which botanists have accepted because they were the result of exact +observation. “A man of observant eye and quick intelligence,” says +Auguste Pyramus de Candolle, “would observe certain groups in the +vegetable kingdom which we call genera before discerning the species.” + +The germs of botanical science are to be sought for in the +rudimentary state in very remote antiquity. In the sacred writings we +meet with constant allusions to the vegetable world. The cultivators +of the science among the early Greeks and Romans were not botanists, +but Rhizotomæ, or root-cutters, since they directed their attention +to the roots in search of medicinal properties. Aristotle of +Stagira, who lived in the fourth century before our era, may be +regarded as the founder of botany; Mithridates, and the younger Juba, +King of Mauritania, were among its cultivators. They established +botanic gardens, some probably from love of the science, others of +them in order to cultivate the deadly plants from which poisonous +juices were obtained. Nicander of Colophon, Cato, Varro, Columella, +Virgil, Pedanius Dioscorides of Cilicia, and lastly, the elder Pliny, +all dwell upon the wonders of vegetation; and war, notwithstanding +its desolating tendencies, was made to promote the interests of +science. + +To the Arabians of the Twelfth Century we are next indebted for our +knowledge of botany. After them the darkness of the Middle Ages sets +in, and it is only since the illustrious Venetian, Marco Polo, came +to examine and describe the wonders of the East that the darkness has +been dispelled. He examined the treasures of Asia and the east coast +of Africa, described many plants of India and the Indian Ocean, and +from his day to the present our knowledge of the names of plants, as +well as of their structure and physiology, has been continually on +the increase. + +The science of botany, as now understood, can not be held, however, +to date further back than two centuries. In the year 1682 Nehemiah +Grew published his _Anatomy of Plants_. In 1684 the French botanist +Tournefort, then professor of botany at the Jardin des Plantes, +published his _Elements of Botany_, being the first attempt to +define the exact limits of genera in vegetables. Most of the genera +established by Tournefort remain, proving the correctness of the +formula from which he deduced their common characters. Tournefort +succeeded to a large extent in unraveling the chaos into which the +science of botany had been plunged from the days of Theophrastus +and Dioscorides. Separating genera and species according to +their characteristics, he described no less than 698 genera and +10,146 species. He published, at the same time, a system for the +classification of plants, eminently attractive, especially if we +connect it with the times in which it appeared. The French botanist +directed the attention of observers, probably for the first time, to +those parts of plants most likely to excite admiration, namely, the +different forms of the corolla. + +In selecting the form of the corolla as the basis of his +classification, Tournefort has, perhaps, contributed more to the +progress of botany than any other savant of any age. The task of +instruction was rendered a pleasure by thus taking, as a subject of +scientific inquiry, the most attractive part of the plant. He soon +made adepts of those who had hitherto only contemplated flowers as +the source of an agreeable sensation. + +The system of Tournefort for the classification of plants met with +great favor among his contemporaries, on account of its simplicity. +Nevertheless, in its application, this system presented many +difficulties. The form of the corolla is not always so exactly +appreciable that the class to which that plant belongs can be settled +from that character alone. But the gravest defect of the system is, +that by it the vegetable world is divided into two classes, namely, +Herbaceous Plants and Trees--a division which has no existence in +nature. The division destroys the natural analogies, for the size +of a plant has no bearing upon its organization and structure. In +conclusion, the continually increasing number of new species, which +were unknown in Tournefort’s time, tests, in the strongest manner, +the defects of his system of distribution. The greater number of +vegetable species discovered since Tournefort’s time could not +be placed in either of his classes. This defect soon became very +apparent, and the system fell by degrees out of favor with botanists +even among his own countrymen, with whom it had found most admirers. + +In England the study of plants had taken a more philosophical +direction. About the middle of the Seventeenth Century the microscope +was first applied to the study of the organs of plants; and in 1661 +spiral vessels were detected by Henshaw in the walnut tree, and +shortly afterward the cellular tissues were examined by Hooke. These +discoveries were followed by the publication of two works on the +minute anatomy of plants by Malpighi and Grew. They examined the +various forms of cellular tissues and intercellular passages in their +minutest details, and with an exactness which causes their works +still to be recognized as the groundwork of all physiological botany. +The real nature of the sexual organs in plants was demonstrated by +Grew; the important difference between the seeds with one and those +with two cotyledons was first pointed out by him. Clear and distinct +ideas of the causes of vegetable phenomena were gradually developed, +and a solid foundation laid on which the best theories of vegetation +have been formed by subsequent botanists. + +About the time when Tournefort was engaged in arranging his +system of plants, and when Grew had completed his microscopical +observations, John Ray was driven from his collegiate employments +at Cambridge by differences of opinion with the ruling powers of +his university. He sought and found consolation in the study of +natural history, to which he was ardently attached, and for which +his powers of observation, capacious mind, and extensive learning +so highly qualified him. Profiting by the discoveries of Grew and +other vegetable anatomists, in 1686 he published the first volume +of his _Historia Plantarum_, in which are embodied all the facts +connected with the structure and organs of plants, with an exposition +of the philosophy of classification, the merits of which are better +appreciated now than they were in his own days. + +Ray was careful to guard his readers against the supposition that +classification was other than a means of identification. He argued +that there was no line of demarcation in nature between one group +or order, or even genus, and another, or that any system could be +perfect. + +While he enumerated the true uses of classification, Ray also +laid the foundations of the natural system, which has since been +universally adopted by botanists. He separated flowerless from +flowering plants, and he divided these again into Monocotyledonous +and Dicotyledonous plants. + +Forty years after the publication of Tournefort’s system, and while +Ray was yet pursuing his philosophical investigations, the Linnæan +system appeared. This new mode of distributing vegetable species was +hailed with admiration. Its author, Charles von Linnæus, reigned +supreme and without a rival till the end of the Eighteenth Century, +and even in our days his partisans are neither few nor powerless. In +Germany, for instance, more than one botanical work of character has +for foundation the system of Linnæus, and many school-gardens are +arranged after his classification. + +The system of Linnæus rests upon the consideration of the organs +of fecundation--organs almost overlooked until then, but whose +physiological functions have since been ably demonstrated. He +introduced in 1736 a salutary and much-wanted reform into botanical +language and nomenclature, defining most rigorously the terms used to +express the various modifications and characters of the organs, and +reducing the name of each plant to two words, the first designating +the genus, the second designating a species of the genus. Before +his time, in fact, it was necessary to follow the name of the genus +through a whole sentence in order to characterize the species, and +in proportion as the number of species increased, the sentences +were lengthened until it seemed as if they would never come to an +end. It was like the confusion which would arise in society if, in +place of using the baptismal name and surname, we were to suppress +the baptismal name, and substitute for it an enumeration of many +qualities distinctive of the individual; as if, for example, in place +of saying Pierre Durand or Louis Durand, we said Durand the great +sportsman, or any other phraseology applicable to the qualities of +the individual. Nevertheless the Linnæan or binary nomenclature is +one of the great titles to that glory which has been awarded to +its immortal author. In the scheme of the Linnæan system it has +been found possible to describe all plants discovered since his +time--an irrefragable proof of the great merits of this artificial +classification of species. + +This classification of plants has received the name of the artificial +system, because it groups the species according to a small number +and not from the whole of their characteristics; in short, it rather +permits one class to be distinguished from another than makes each +known in an intimate manner. It insists much upon their differences, +little upon their resemblances. Between species thus compared, only +one essential analogy may exist. The rush takes place beside the +barberry, because each of these plants has six stamens and only +one style. The vine is ranged beside the periwinkle, because they +each have five stamens and one style. The carrot is allied to the +gooseberry, etc. There may not be between the plants thus compared +any natural bond, but only some trace of resemblance in a particular +part of the organization, which may be found also in a number of very +different plants. + +Linnæus was endowed with too sound a judgment, with a tact too +exquisite, not to feel the defects of this artificial mode of +classification. He detected by the force of his genius the existence +of vegetable groups superior to genera, and connected them by a large +number of characteristics. He called this group a _natural order_, +and it has since his time been called a “natural family.” He also +tried to distribute plants after a natural classification--that is to +say, into families. After the death, and during the life, of Linnæus, +botanists endeavored to discover upon what principle he had founded +his _natural orders_--that is to say, they sought to find the key to +the hidden principle of his orders; but no one has succeeded. Linnæus +himself does not appear to have had very fixed views on the subject. +He created his orders by a sort of instinct which belongs only to +the man of genius; by that kind of semi-divination which the man of +learning acquires who possesses vast and profound knowledge of the +objects which he passes his life in observing. + +In a letter we find the following passage: “You ask me for the +characters of my orders. My dear Giseke, I assure you that I know not +how to give them.” + +Magnol, professor of botany to the School of Medicine, in his work +entitled _Prodromus Historiæ Generalis Plantarum_ (1689), is the +first author who uses the happy term “family” to designate natural +groups of vegetable genera. M. Flourens speaks of the preface to +this little book of a hundred pages as calculated to immortalize +the author, as in it was first solved a very difficult problem. The +following lines are taken from this much-admired preface: “Having +examined the methods most in use,” says Magnol, “and found that +of Morison insufficient and very defective, and that of Ray much +too difficult, I think I can perceive in plants a certain affinity +between them, so that they might be ranged in divers _families_, as +we class animals. This apparent analogy between animals and plants +has induced me to arrange them in certain families, and, as it +appeared to me impossible to draw the characters of these families +from the single organ of fructification, I have selected principally +the most noted characteristics I have met with, such as the root, +the stem, the flower, the seeds. There is also found among plants _a +certain similitude_, a certain affinity, as it were, which does not +exist in any of the parts considered separately, but only as a whole. +I have no doubt, for instance, but that the characters of families +might be taken from the first leaf of the germ as it issued from the +seed. I have followed the order that the parts of plants follow in +which are found the principal and distinctive characters of families, +but without limiting myself to any one single part, for I have often +considered many of them together.” + +Magnol established seventy-six families, but without giving their +characters. His principles of classification are vague and uncertain; +they only serve to announce the dawn of a new day which was soon to +rise on the science. The few lines which we have quoted from the +preface of the _Prodromus_ reveal, as through a fog, the mere idea of +a natural system. It is Bernard de Jussieu, demonstrator of botany +in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, to whom belongs the glory of +working out the true natural system which was first established +in principle by Ray, although it does not appear that Jussieu was +acquainted with the works of the English philosopher. + +“Others may perhaps have extended the limits, but he was the first +to show the way, to trace the method, to establish the principles. +Jussieu consigned his discoveries to no book, but in the Gardens +of Trianon the mind of the author is recognized. In examining the +characters, he remarked that some were more general than others, +and these furnished the first division. He recognized that the +germination of the seed and the respective disposition of the sexual +organs were the two principal and most persistent characteristics. +He adopted them, and made them the basis of the arrangement which he +established at the Trianon in 1759.” + +Four years later, another French botanist, Michel Adanson, a +naturalist remarkable for the originality of his views and the +extent of his conceptions, published a book upon the families of +plants. He proposed a particular course for arriving at the true +natural method. But what was that course? He proposed classing all +the plants known according to a great number of artificial systems; +and after considering them from all possible points of view, he +proposed to arrange in the same group those plants which were classed +as allies in the greatest number of systems. In this manner Adanson +created sixty-five artificial systems, and by their comparison he +formed fifty-eight families. He was the first to trace the precise +characters and details of all these families; his work in this +respect is far superior to those of his predecessors. + +The year 1789 was the date of the real establishment of natural +families among vegetables. It was in this year that Laurent de +Jussieu published his celebrated _Genera Plantarum_, which marked +a new era in the science of botany, and hastened the advent of a +natural system of zoological classification as well. + +The catalogues of the Gardens of the Trianon, prepared by Bernard +de Jussieu, and his conversations with his nephew, were the source +whence the latter drew his inspirations. + +That the French botanist had acquainted himself with the principles +of Ray’s classification is unquestionable; in fact, Jussieu +possessed the happy art of adapting the labors of others to +perfecting his own conceptions. He made use of the simple language +and accurate descriptions of Linnæus, divested of his pedantry. Ray +had demonstrated that rigorous definitions in natural history are +impossible, and, accepting the decision, Jussieu does not attempt to +found his family orders or genera on any single character belonging +to objects so various in their habits and organization as plants. + +During the last forty or fifty years other botanists have attempted +various systems of classification. In those of De Candolle, +Endlicher, Lindley, and of Brongniart, the distribution of plants +into groups is founded, as in those of Ray and Jussieu, on the +consideration of the cotyledons; of the polypetalous, monopetalous, +and apetalous flowers; finally, upon the mode of insertion of the +stamens. Names have changed; things remain the same; and if in +their details the series of families or orders present certain +differences, it only arises from the fact that a linear series is +incompatible with the natural system, and that the connection of +the intermediate groups may be expressed in various ways without +affecting the general principles of the system. “The formation +of natural orders by Jussieu,” says Ad. Brongniart, “is even now +a model which directs botanists in their studies to the affinity +which connects the various forms of vegetation. Many of these orders +have doubtless been subjected to important modifications, both in +extending and limiting them; the numbers have been more than doubled; +but the number of species now known is increased more than sixfold. +Since the publication of the _Genera Plantarum_, many points in the +organization of plants which were either scarcely touched upon or +were altogether unsuspected, have now been considered, and it is +found that they do not destroy, but confirm, and perfect the work of +Jussieu. One is even astonished to find that the numerous discoveries +in the anatomy and organography of plants since the beginning of +the century have not introduced greater modifications into the +constitution of the natural groups admitted by the author of the +_Genera Plantarum_. It is here that we recognize the sagacity of the +savant who established them, and the soundness of the principle which +guided him.” + +[Illustration: Flowers, Curious and Beautiful + +1, Edelweiss; 2, Nigella Arvensis; 3, Parnassia; 4, Rhododendron; +5, Ophrys Arachnites; 6, Cypripedium Calceolus; 7, Nepenthes; 8, +Gnaphalium Dioicum; 9, Ophrys Muscifera] + +The natural classification of plants, their distribution into +families, well defined, and founded upon affinities, have been +perfected and placed upon a basis more and more certain in our +own days. Botanists have set themselves the task of unraveling and +establishing the characters which dominate, and those which are +subordinate, in each family; numbers have spread themselves over +the globe, exploring the most distant regions, interrogating the +solitudes of forests and plains which no European had hitherto +visited, and have studied in their native wilds many exotic plants, +comparing them with already known species, thus giving us a means of +pointing out more precisely the tribes, genera, and species of each +natural family. Monographs of a great number of such families have +thus been written with great research. The study of the formation and +evolution of organs; the discovery of the true mode of reproduction +in cryptogams, still unknown in Jussieu’s time; the investigation +of the inflorescence, of the fruits, of the ovules, of the embryos, +have furnished elements for perfecting the limits of families and +advancing natural classification. + +Auguste Pyramus de Candolle is one of the botanists of the last +century who has most contributed to the general adoption of natural +families. His _Essai sur les Propriétés des Plantes_ is celebrated +for the knowledge which it displays of the comparative physiological +and medicinal action of vegetables, and the physical organization +which naturally connects certain plants as a group. His _Prodromus +Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis_, continued by his pupils and +his son, is a wonderful work for the extent and precision of its +details. + +In Great Britain, from the days of Ray, we have always had zealous +followers of the science of botany, more especially in the class +which may be called field botanists. Withering, Sir James Edward +Smith, and hundreds of followers more or less eminent, employed +their leisure in the fascinating and healthy pursuit of plants, and +perhaps the most valuable contributions to science are the detailed +descriptions of species, with their habits and habitats, with which +they have enriched our botanical literature. Nor was the study of +the physiology of plants--a science which may be said to owe its +existence to the researches of Grew and Malpighi--neglected. To the +former belongs the merit of having pointed out the difference between +seeds with one and seeds with two cotyledons, on which Ray founded +the first division of his system of classification. + +The German botanists have always been distinguished for their patient +and laborious investigations; and it was reserved for the first of +Germans, the poet Goethe, to effect the last great revolution that +the ideas of botanists have undergone. In 1790, shortly after the +appearance of De Jussieu’s _Genera_, he published a pamphlet on +the _Metamorphoses of Plants_. At this time the functions of the +organs of plants were supposed to be pretty well understood. The +notion had, however, existed in a form more or less vague, from the +times of Theophrastus, that the various parts of the flower were +mere modifications of leaves, although their appearance was very +different--a doctrine which Linnæus seems to have entertained at +one time, as he speaks, in his _Prolepsis Plantarum_, of the parts +of a flower being mere modifications of leaves whose period of +development was anticipated. Goethe’s mind was, as he himself tells +us, one more adapted to see agreements in things than to mark their +distinctions. We are not surprised to find, therefore, that he takes +up this theory, and demonstrates that the organs to which so many +different names are applied--namely, the bracts, calyx, corolla, +stamens, and pistil--are all modifications of the leaf: the bract +being a contracted leaf; the calyx and corolla a collection or whorl +of several; the stamens contracted and colored leaves; and the +pistils leaves rolled up upon themselves and variously coherent. + +These views of the poet met at first with little attention from +botanists, and we are chiefly indebted to Robert Brown for the +elucidation of Goethe’s theory. In his _Prodromus of the Plants of +New Holland_, and in many papers in the _Linnæan Transactions_, he +demonstrates its truth as well as its practical value; showing, by +the use of the microscope, that the law was applicable not only to +the external parts of plants, but that it was followed in their +development also. Robert Brown contributed largely to perfecting the +natural method of classification. His great work upon the flora of +Australia has greatly extended the circle of our studies for that +comparison of characters which is the basis of botanical genera and +tribes. + +The number of families of flowering plants admitted in the present +day, as the result of the investigations of the eminent men whose +names have been mentioned, and many others which could not be quoted +here without swelling our pages to undue proportions, number +three hundred and three; and many of these are again subdivided by +botanists who have made certain families their special study. + +The primary groups into which flowering plants are divided, and in +which therefore the families or orders are themselves comprised in +the classification at present accepted, being founded upon the degree +of cohesion and adhesion in the petals and stamens, are undoubtedly +somewhat artificial. The problem of how the orders are themselves +to be combined into natural groups is one which still engages the +attention of systematic botanists. + +The vegetable kingdom is divided by Dr. Lindley into seven classes: + + +FLOWERLESS PLANTS (CRYPTOGAMS) + + { A Thallus is a fusion of root, + { stem, and leaves into one general + { mass, and Thallogens are + { Stems and leaves { destitute of breathing pores, + I. THALLOGENS { imperceptible. { and multiply by the formation + { of spores, in their interior or + { upon their surface. + + { Beyond Thallogens are multitudes + { of species, flowerless + { like them, but approximating + { to more complex structures, + { sometimes acquiring the stature + { of lofty trees with breathing + { Stems and leaves { pores; their leaves and stems + II. ACROGENS { quite perceptible. { distinctly separated; they multiply + { by reproductive spores + { like the Thallogens. Their + { stem, however, does not increase + { in diameter, but at their + { summit, as the name of the + { class indicates. + + +FLOWERING PLANTS (PHANEROGAMS) + + { The Rhizogens are a collection + { of anomalous plants, + { mostly leafless and parasitical, + { having the loose cellular organ- + { ization of Fungi, although + { traces of a spiral structure are + { usually found among their + { tissues. Some of them spring + { directly from the shapeless cell- + III. RHIZOGENS { Fructification { ular mass which serves at once + { springing from { for stem and root, and seems + { a Thallus. { to be analogous to the Thallus + { of the Fungi. Their flowers + { resemble those of more perfect + { plants; their sexual organs are + { complete, but their embryo, + { which is without any visible + { radicle or cotyledon, simply + { appears to be a spherical or + { oblong homogeneous mass. + + { In Endogens the embryo + IV. ENDOGENS { Cotyledon single. { has but one cotyledon; the + { Permanent woody { leaves have parallel veins; the + { stem confused. { trunk contains bundles of spiral + { Leaves parallel- { and dotted vessels, surrounded + { veined. { by wood cells, arranged in a + { confused manner. + + V. DICTYOGENS { Cotyledon single. + { Wood of the stem, { Dictyogens are distinguished + { when perennial, { from Endogens by the stems, + { arranged in rings { which have concentric circles, + { concentric with { and the leaves which fall off + { the veined pith. { the stem by a clean fracture. + { Leaves netted. + + VI. GYMNOGENS { Cotyledons, two or + { more. Wood of the { Gymnogens are Exogens + { stem in concentric { which have no style or stigma, + { rings, and youngest { the reproductive organs being + { at the circumfer- { so constructed that the pollen + { ence. Seeds quite { falls immediately upon the + { naked. { ovules. + + { Exogens have an embryo with + { two or three more cotyledons; + { leaves with netted veins; + { Cotyledons, two. { the trunk consisting of woody + { Wood with concen- { bundles, composed of dotted + VII EXOGENS { tric rings. Leaves { vessels and woody fibres; + { netted-veined. { arranged round a central pith, + { Seeds inclosed in { either in concentric rings or + { seed-vessels. { in a homogeneous mass, but + { always having medullary plates + { forming rays from the centre + { to the circumference. + + + + + FRUITS AND SEEDS + --LORD AVEBURY + +Fruits and seeds, though not generally so conspicuous as flowers, are +not less interesting. + +In considering them, it is fortunately not necessary to use many +technical terms, though it is impossible to avoid them altogether. +In order to understand the structure of the seed, we must commence +with the flower, to which the seed owes its origin. Now, if you take +such a flower as, say, a geranium, you will find that it consists of +the following parts: Firstly, there is a whorl of green leaves, known +as the sepals, and together forming the calyx; secondly, a whorl of +colored leaves, or petals, generally forming the most conspicuous +part of the flower, and called the corolla; thirdly, a whorl of +organs more or less like pins, which are called stamens, in the heads +or anthers of which the pollen is produced. These anthers are in +reality, as Goethe showed, modified leaves; in the so-called double +flowers, as, for instance, in our garden roses, they are developed +into colored leaves like those of the corolla, and monstrous flowers +are not infrequently met with, in which the stamens are green leaves, +more or less resembling the ordinary leaves of the plant. Lastly, in +the centre of the flower is the pistil, which also is theoretically +to be considered as constituted of one or more leaves, each of which +is folded on itself, and called a carpel. Sometimes there is only one +carpel. Generally the carpels have so completely lost the appearance +of leaves, that this explanation of their true nature requires a +considerable amount of faith, though in others, as for instance +in the Columbine (Aquilegia), the original leaf-form can still be +traced. The base of the pistil is the ovary, composed of one or more +carpels, in which the seeds are developed. I need hardly say that +many so-called seeds are really fruits; that is to say, they are +seeds with more or less complex envelopes. + +We all know that seeds and fruits differ greatly in different +species. Some are large, some small; some are sweet, some bitter; +some are brightly colored; some are good to eat, some poisonous; some +spherical, some winged, some covered with bristles, some with hairs; +some are smooth, some very sticky. + +We may be sure that there are good reasons for these differences. +In the case of flowers much light has been thrown on their various +interesting peculiarities by the researches of Sprengel, Darwin, +Müller, and other naturalists. As regards seeds also, besides +Gærtner’s great work, Hildebrand, Krause, Steinbrinck, Kerner, +Grant Allen, Wallace, Darwin, and others, have published valuable +researches, especially with reference to the hairs and hooks with +which so many seeds are provided, and the other means of dispersion +they possess. Nobbe also has contributed an important work on seeds, +principally from an agricultural point of view, but the subject as a +whole offers a most promising field for investigation. + +It is said that one of our best botanists once observed to another +that he never could understand what was the use of the teeth on the +capsules of mosses. “Oh,” replied his friend, “I see no difficulty in +that, because if it were not for the teeth, how could we distinguish +the species?” + +We may, however, no doubt, safely consider that the peculiarities of +seeds have reference to the plant itself, and not to the convenience +of botanists. + +In the first place, then, during growth, seeds in many cases require +protection. This is especially the case with those of an albuminous +character. It is curious that so many of those which are luscious +when ripe, as the peach, strawberry, cherry, apple, etc., are +stringy, and almost inedible, till ripe. Moreover, in these cases, +the fleshy portion is not the seed itself, but only the envelope, +so that even if the sweet part is eaten the seed itself remains +uninjured. + +On the other hand, such seeds as the hazel, beech, Spanish chestnut, +and innumerable others, are protected by a thick, impervious shell, +which is especially developed in many Proteaceæ, the Brazil-nut, the +so-called monkey-pot, the cocoanut, and other palms. + +In other cases the envelopes protect the seeds, not only by their +thickness and toughness, but also by their bitter taste, as, for +instance, in the walnut. The genus Mucuna, one of the Leguminosæ, is +remarkable in having the pods covered with stinging hairs. + +In many cases the calyx, which is closed when the flower is in +bud, opens when the flower expands, and then after the petals have +fallen closes again until the seeds are ripe, when it opens for the +second time. This is, for instance, the case with the common herb +Robert (Geranium robertianum). In Atractylis cancellata, a south +European plant, allied to the thistles, the outer envelopes form an +exquisite little cage. Another case, perhaps, is that of Nigella, +the “devil-in-a-bush,” or, as it is sometimes more prettily called, +“Love-in-a-mist,” of old English gardens. + +Again, the protection of the seed is in many cases attained by +curious movements of the plant itself. + +The sleep of flowers is also probably a case of the same kind, though +it has, I believe, special reference to the visits of insects; those +flowers which are fertilized by bees, butterflies, and other day +insects, sleep by night, if at all; while those which are dependent +on moths rouse themselves toward evening, and sleep by day. On the +other hand, in the dandelion (Leontodon), the flower-stalk is upright +while the flower is expanded, a period which lasts for three or four +days; it then lowers itself and lies close to the ground for about +twelve days, while the fruits are ripening, and then rises again when +they are mature. In the Cyclamen the stalk curls itself up into a +beautiful spiral after the flower has faded. + +The flower of the little Linaria of our walls (L. cymbalaria) pushes +out into the light and sunshine, but as soon as it is fertilized it +turns round and endeavors to find some hole or cranny in which it may +remain safely ensconced until the seed is ripe. + +In some water-plants the flower expands at the surface, but after +it is faded retreats again to the bottom. This is the case, for +instance, with the water lilies, some species of Potamogeton, Trapa +natans, etc. In Valisneria, again, the female flowers are borne +on long stalks, which reach to the surface of the water, on which +the flowers float. The male flowers, on the contrary, have short, +straight stalks, from which, when mature, the pollen detaches +itself, rises to the surface, and, floating freely on it, is wafted +about, so that it comes in contact with the female flowers. After +fertilization, however, the long stalk coils up spirally, and thus +carries the ovary down to the bottom, where the seeds can ripen in +greater safety. + +Farmers have found by experience that it is not desirable to grow the +same crop in the same field year after year, because the soil becomes +more or less exhausted. In this respect, therefore, the powers of +dispersion possessed by many seeds are a great advantage to the +species. Moreover, they are also advantageous in giving the seed a +chance of germinating in new localities suitable to the requirements +of the species. Thus a common European species, Xanthium spinosum, +has rapidly spread over the whole of South Africa, the seeds being +carried in the wool of sheep. + +There are a great many cases in which plants possess powers of +movement directed to the dissemination of the seed. + +Some plants even sow their seeds in the ground. In other cases the +plant throws its own seeds to some little distance. This is the +case with the common Cardamine hirsuta, a little plant six or eight +inches high, which comes up of itself abundantly on any vacant spot +in kitchen-gardens or shrubberies. The seeds are contained in a pod +which consists of three parts, a central membrane, and two lateral +walls. When the pod is ripe the walls are in a state of tension. The +seeds are loosely attached to the central piece by short stalks. +Now, when the proper moment has arrived, the outer walls are kept in +place by a delicate membrane, only just strong enough to resist the +tension. The least touch, for instance, a puff of wind blowing the +plant against a neighbor, detaches the outer wall, which suddenly +rolls itself up, generally with such force as to fly from the plant, +thus jerking the seeds to a distance of several feet. + +In the common violet, besides the colored flowers, there are others +in which the corolla is either absent or imperfectly developed. The +stamens also are small, but contain pollen, though less than in the +colored flowers. In the autumn large numbers of these curious flowers +are produced. When very young they look like an ordinary flower-bud, +the central part of the flower being entirely covered by the sepals, +and the whole having a triangular form. When older, they look at +first sight like an ordinary seed capsule, so that the bud seems to +pass into the capsule without the flower-stage. + +Some species of Vetch, and the common Broom, throw their seeds, +owing to the elasticity of the pods, which, when ripe, open suddenly +with a jerk. Each valve of the pod contains a layer of woody cells, +which, however, do not pass straight up the pod, but are more or less +inclined to its axis. Consequently, when the pod bursts, it does not, +as in the case of Cardamine, roll up like a watch-spring, but twists +itself more or less like a corkscrew. + +I have mentioned these species because they are some of the commonest +British wild flowers, so that during the summer and autumn we may in +almost any walk observe for ourselves this innocent artillery. There +are, however, many other more or less similar cases. + +Thus the Squirting Cucumber (Momordica elaterium), a common plant +in the south of Europe, and one grown in some places for medicinal +purposes, effects the same object by a totally different mechanism. +The fruit is a small cucumber, and when ripe becomes so gorged with +fluid that it is in a state of great tension. In this condition a +very slight touch is sufficient to detach it from the stalk, when +the pressure of the walls ejects the contents, throwing the seed +some distance. I have seen them even in England sent nearly twenty +feet; but in a hotter climate the plant grows more vigorously, and +they would doubtless be thrown further. In this case, of course, the +contents are ejected at the end by which the cucumber is attached to +the stalk. If any one touches one of these ripe fruits, they are +often thrown with such force as to strike him in the face. + +In Cyclanthera, a plant allied to the cucumber, the fruit is +unsymmetrical, one side being round and hairy, the other nearly flat +and smooth. The true apex of the fruit which bears the remains of the +flower, is also somewhat eccentric, and, when the seeds are ripe, +if it is touched even lightly, the fruit explodes and the seeds are +thrown to some distance. + +Other cases of projected seeds are afforded by Impatiens, Hura, one +of the Euphorbiæ, Collomia, Oxalis, some species allied to acanthus, +and by Arceuthobium, a plant allied to the mistletoe, and parasitic +on juniper, which ejects its seeds to a distance of several feet, +throwing them thus from one tree to another. + +Even those species which do not eject their seeds often have them +so placed with reference to the capsule that they only leave it if +swung or jerked by a high wind. In the case of trees, even seeds +with no special adaptation for dispersion must in this manner be +often carried to no little distance; and to a certain, though less, +extent, this must hold good even with herbaceous plants. It throws +light on the, at first sight, curious fact that in so many plants +with small, heavy seeds, the capsules open not at the bottom, as one +might perhaps have been disposed to expect, but at the top. A good +illustration is afforded by the well-known case of the common poppy, +in which the upper part of the capsule presents a series of little +doors, through which, when the plant is swung by the wind, the seeds +come out one by one. The little doors are protected from rain by +overhanging eaves, and are even said to shut of themselves in wet +weather. The genus Campanula is also interesting from this point of +view, because some species have the capsules pendent, some upright, +and those which are upright open at the top, while those which are +pendent do so at the base. + +In other cases the dispersion is mainly the work of the seed itself. +In some of the lower plants, as, for instance, in many sea-weeds, and +in some allied fresh-water plants, such as Vaucheria, the spores[5] +are covered by vibratile cilia, and actually swim about in the water, +like infusoria, till they have found a suitable spot on which to +grow. Nay, so much do the spores of some sea-weeds resemble animals +that they are provided with a red “eye-spot,” as it has been called, +which, at any rate, seems so far to deserve the name that it appears +to be sensitive to light. This mode of progression is, however, only +suitable to water plants. In much more numerous cases, seeds are +carried by the wind. + +In other instances, the plants themselves, or parts of them, are +rolled along the ground by the wind. An example of this is afforded, +for instance, by a kind of grass (Spinifex squarrosus), in which the +mass of inflorescence, forming a large, round head, is thus driven +for miles over the dry sands of Australia until it comes to a damp +place, when it expands and soon strikes root. + +So, again, the Anastatica hierochuntica, or “Rose of Jericho,” a +small annual with rounded pods, which frequents sandy places in +Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, when dry, curls itself up into a ball or +round cushion, and is thus driven about by the wind until it finds a +damp place, when it uncurls, the pods open and sow the seeds. + +These cases, however, in which seeds are rolled by the wind along the +ground, are comparatively rare. There are many more in which seeds +are wafted through the air. + +Another mode, which is frequently adopted, is the development of long +hairs. Sometimes, as in Clematis, Anemone, and Dryas, these hairs +take the form of a long, feathery awn. In others the hairs form a +tuft or crown, which botanists term a pappus. Of this the dandelion +and John Go-to-bed-at-noon, so called from its habit of shutting its +flowers about midday, are well-known examples. Tufts of hairs, which +are themselves sometimes feathered, are developed in a great many +Composites, though some, as, for instance, the daisy and lapsana, are +without them; in some very interesting species, of which the common +Thrincia hirta of our lawns and meadows is one, there are two kinds +of fruits, one with a pappus and one without. The former are adapted +to seek “fresh woods and pastures new,” while the latter stay near +the parent plant and perpetuate the race at home. + +In other cases seeds are wafted by water. Of this the cocoanut is one +of the most striking examples. The seeds retain their vitality for a +considerable time, and the loose texture of the husk protects them +and makes them float. Every one knows that the cocoanut is one of +the first plants to make its appearance on coral islands, and it is, +I believe, the only palm which is common to both hemispheres. + +In a very large number of cases the diffusion of seeds is effected +by animals. To this class belong the fruits and berries. In them an +outer fleshy portion becomes pulpy, and generally sweet, inclosing +the seeds. It is remarkable that such fruits, in order, doubtless, +to attract animals, are, like flowers, brightly colored--as, for +instance, the cherry, currant, apple, peach, plum, strawberry, +raspberry, and many others. This color, moreover, is not present in +the unripe fruit, but is rapidly developed at maturity. In such cases +the actual seed is generally protected by a dense, sometimes almost +stony, covering, so that it escapes digestion, while its germination +is, perhaps, hastened by the heat of the animal’s body. It may be +said that the skin of apple and pear pips is comparatively soft; but +then they are imbedded in a stringy core, which is seldom eaten. + +These colored fruits form a considerable part of the food of monkeys +in the tropical regions of the earth, and we can, I think, hardly +doubt that these animals are guided by the colors, just as we are, in +selecting the ripe fruit. + +In these instances of colored fruits, the fleshy edible part more or +less surrounds the true seeds; in others the actual seeds themselves +become edible. In the former the edible part serves as a temptation +to animals; in the latter it is stored up for the use of the plant +itself. When, therefore, the seeds themselves are edible they are +generally protected by more or less hard or bitter envelopes, for +instance, the horse chestnut, beech, Spanish chestnut, walnut, etc. +That these seeds are used as food by squirrels and other animals is, +however, by no means necessarily an evil to the plant, for the result +is that they are often carried some distance and then dropped, or +stored up and forgotten, so that in this way they get carried away +from the parent tree. + +In another class of instances, animals, unconsciously or unwillingly, +serve in the dispersion of seeds. These cases may be divided into two +classes, those in which the fruits are provided with hooks and those +in which they are sticky. The hooks, moreover, are so arranged as to +promote the removal of the fruits. In all these species the hooks, +though beautifully formed, are small; but in some species they become +truly formidable. Two of the most remarkable are Martynia proboscidea +and Harpagophyton procumbens. Martynia is a plant of Louisiana, and +if its fruits once get hold of an animal it is most difficult to +remove them. Harpagophytum is a South African genus. The fruits are +most formidable, and are said sometimes to kill lions. They roll +about over the dry plains, and if they attach themselves to the skin, +the wretched animal tries to tear them out, and sometimes getting +them into his mouth perishes miserably. + +The cases in which the diffusion of fruits and seeds is effected by +their being sticky are less numerous, and we have no well-marked +instance among our native plants. The common plumbago of South +Europe is a case which many of you no doubt have observed. Other +genera with the same mode of dispersion are Pittosporum, Pisonia, +Boerhavia, Siegesbeckia, Grindelia, Drymaria, etc. There are +comparatively few cases in which the same plant uses more than one +of these modes of promoting the dispersion of its seeds, still there +are some such instances. Thus in the common burdock the seeds have +a pappus, while the whole flower-head is provided with hooks which +readily attach themselves to any passing animal. Asterothrix, as +Hildebrand has pointed out, has three provisions for dispersion: it +has a hollow appendage, a pappus, and a rough surface. + +The next point is that seeds should find a spot suitable for their +growth. In most cases, the seed lies on the ground, into which it +then pushes its little rootlet. In plants, however, which live +on trees, the case is not so simple, and we meet some curious +contrivances. Thus, the mistletoe, as we all know, is parasitic +on trees. The fruits are eaten by birds, and the droppings often, +therefore, fall on the boughs; but if the seed was like that of most +other plants it would soon fall to the ground, and consequently +perish. Almost alone among those of English plants it is extremely +sticky, and thus adheres to the bark. + +I have already alluded to an allied genus, Arceuthobium, parasitic on +junipers, which throws its seeds to a distance of several feet. These +also are very viscid, or, to speak more correctly, are imbedded in a +very viscid mucilage, so that if they come in contact with the bark +of a neighboring tree they stick to it. + +Among terrestrial species there are not a few cases in which plants +are not contented simply to leave their seeds on the surface of the +soil, but actually sow them in the ground. + +I have already alluded to the Cardamines, the pods of which open +elastically and throw their seeds some distance. A Brazilian species, +C. chenopodifolia, besides the usual long pods, produces also short, +pointed ones, which it buries in the ground. + +Arachis hypogæa is the ground-nut of the West Indies. The flower is +yellow and resembles that of a pea, but has an elongated calyx, at +the base of which, close to the stem, is the ovary. After the flower +has faded, the young pod, which is oval, pointed, and very minute, +is carried forward by the growth of the stalk, which becomes several +inches long and curves downward so as generally to force the pod into +the ground. If it fails in this, the pod does not develop, but soon +perishes; on the other hand, as soon as it is underground the pod +begins to grow and develops two large seeds. + +A remarkable instance is afforded by a beautiful south European +grass, Stipa pennata, the structure of which has been described by +Vaucher, and more recently, as well as more completely, by Frank +Darwin. The actual seed is small, with a sharp point, and stiff, +short hairs pointing backward. The upper end of the seed is produced +into a fine twisted cork-screw-like rod, which is followed by a +plain cylindrical portion, attached at an angle to the corkscrew, +and ending in a long and beautiful feather, the whole being more +than a foot in length. The long feather, no doubt, facilitates the +dispersion of the seeds by wind; eventually, however, they sink to +the ground, which they tend to reach, the seed being the heaviest +portion, point downward. So the seed remains as long as it is dry, +but if a shower comes on, or when the dew falls, the spiral unwinds, +and if, as is most probable, the surrounding herbage or any other +obstacle prevents the feathers from rising, the seed itself is forced +down and so driven by degrees into the ground. + + + + + LEAVES + --R. Lloyd Praeger + + +The stems of plants are the framework on which the leaves and +flowers are spread out to catch the light and air, and we find +definite relations existing between the form, position, and strength +of stems, and the shape, weight, and function of the organs which +the stems support. The branches of an apple or pear tree have to +be sufficiently strong not only to withstand the stress of winter +gales, and the burden, of the wealth of blossom and foliage of early +summer, but also the weight of the abundant fruit of autumn. It is +interesting to note that among our cultivated fruits strength of +stem has not kept pace with the increase in weight of fruit due +to artificial selection, so that in gardens our artificial fruits +must needs, in a season of abundance, be supported by artificial +stems--by props and crutches--lest, like the legs of the prize turkey +in the _Christmas Carol_, the branches might snap like sticks of +sealing-wax. In evergreen trees, the weight of snow is a serious +contingency that must not be neglected. Nor must the chance of +accident owing to wandering animals be left out of account. The young +ash saplings, a few feet in height, are as pliable as willow-wands, +and spring back into their places as we force our way through them; +but the knobby twigs of an old ash tree, which swing clear in the air +high overhead, are brittle, and snap across if we attempt to bend +them; the elasticity of the whole bough is sufficient to bring them +safely through the heaviest storm. + +Between the form of a twig and that of the leaves which it bears we +can generally at once perceive a relation. The little leaves of the +birch are borne on twigs slender as a piece of twine. The oak and +elm, with larger leaves, require a stouter twig for their support. +The sycamore and ash have twigs which are stouter still. The large +leaves of the horse chestnut are borne on very thick twigs, in which +the principle of the hollow column is introduced. + +The arrangement of the leaves on the stem, or _phyllotaxis_, is a +question of the first importance. The leaves must be so grouped that +all may receive as much light as possible. So far as can be arranged, +there should be no overlapping, nor should any of the available space +be wasted. On the stem of the ash, or sycamore, or teazel, the large +leaves are arranged in alternate pairs, the direction of the axis +of each pair being at right angles to that of the next. Thus two +spaces or _internodes_ separate any pair of leaves from the nearest +pair which, being placed in the same position, might overshadow it. +This is a very simple case, which we shall find to be the rule when +we examine plants in which the leaves are borne in opposite pairs. +When leaves are borne in whorls of three a similar rule will be found +to hold good. The position of the leaves of any whorl is such that +they are vertically below or above the _spaces_ between the leaves +of the next whorl. It will be seen at once that the amount of light +received by each leaf is materially increased by this arrangement. +If in a theatre we can look between the heads of two people in the +row immediately in front of us, the head of a person in the next row +beyond, even though directly before us, does not much interfere with +our view of the stage. In most cases, however, the arrangement of the +leaves on the stem is much more complicated than this. The leaves +usually emerge singly. If we join by a line the point of emergence +of a leaf with that of the next leaf above it on a stem, and that +again with the next, a spiral will be the result, along which at +equal intervals we reach the _nodes_, or points where leaves are +borne. And the distance between these nodes will be always found to +bear some definite relation to the total length of the spiral line +in making one complete revolution round the stem. If the distance +from node to node is one-half of this whole distance, it signifies +that the leaves are borne alternately on opposite sides of the +stem, each leaf being vertically below the second one higher up the +stem--a very common arrangement. Or the leaves may be borne three +to each spiral revolution, so that the position of each leaf shifts +one-third way round the stem as compared with the preceding leaf. +If we look along such a stem, the leaves will appear to be borne in +three vertical rows, with an equal angle between each. Examining some +other plant, we may find that we have to go as far as the fifth leaf +before we find one vertically above the one from which we started, +and if we measure the horizontal distance from any leaf to the next +above or below it, it will be found to equal two-fifths of the total +circumference, so that we have to go five times two-fifths way round +the stem, or two complete revolutions, before completing the cycle. +This is called a two-fifths phyllotaxis. In many other cases, the +arrangement is immensely more complicated, and need not be entered on +here. What is important for us to note at present is that by means of +this orderly mathematical arrangement, the leaves are so distributed +that each fulfils its functions to the best advantage. + +The shape of leaves offers an almost inexhaustible field for +observation and scientific speculation. Mr. Ruskin has said: “The +leaves of the herbage at our feet take all kinds of strange shapes, +as if to invite us to examine them. Star-shaped, heart-shaped, +spear-shaped, arrow-shaped, fretted, fringed, cleft, furrowed, +serrated, sinuated, in whorls, in tufts, in spires, in wreaths, +endlessly expressive, deceptive, fantastic, never the same from +footstalk to blossom, they seem perpetually to tempt our watchfulness +and take delight in outstripping our wonder.” The size of leaves +will naturally vary inversely as their number. A plant of a certain +size--say a tree--will require a certain total area of leaf for the +manufacture of the requisite amount of plant-food. If we cut the +branch of a horse chestnut and of a beech where each had exactly a +diameter of one inch, or two, or six inches, and counted and measured +the leaves on each, while the number of beech leaves would immensely +exceed the number of chestnut leaves the total leaf-area would be +about the same in each case. This area of green leaf, then, must be +spread out to the best advantage. In this connection, a beautiful +relation between the shape of leaves and their arrangement on the +stem may frequently be remarked. Lay a twig of beech on a sheet of +white paper, and note how small are the interstices between the +leaves through which the paper may be seen. The shape of the leaves, +and the intervals at which they are borne, are so related that an +almost continuous expanse of green is offered to the sunlight. A +more remarkable case may be seen in the lime, whose leaves are +quite inequilateral, being contracted on one side at the base and +expanded at the other, in order the more exactly to fill the space +which is available. The elm likewise furnishes a beautiful example +of close-fitting leaves. In most trees in which, like the beech, +hazel, and elm, the leaves lie in close-ranked rows in the same plane +as the twig which supports them, we find more or less oval leaves, +their breadth varying with the space between the leaves, _i. e._, +the length of the internode. In trees such as the horse chestnut or +sycamore, on the other hand, the leaves grow in opposite pairs, and +are typically arranged on upright twigs, the leaf-stems projecting at +a wide angle from the twig, with the surface of the leaf horizontal. +In this case space is not so curtailed; the leaf is larger, and more +or less circular in outline; and the great increase of length in the +internodes, as compared with the trees lately considered, prevents a +too great overshadowing of the lower leaves by those higher up the +shoot. + +In plants which have a very short axis--which have in popular +language “no stem”--a difficulty arises as to how all the leaves +shall receive a due amount of light, since all arise from the same +point. This is met in several ways. The leaves are often placed at +different angles, the outer leaves, which are the lowest and oldest, +spreading horizontally near the ground, the newest rising almost +vertically in the centre, the intermediate being disposed at various +angles between these extremes. Another solution of the difficulty +is effected by a continued growth of the leaf-stalks, each leaf +steadily pushing itself outward so that the whole form a slowly +expanding circle, in which each leaf-blade successively occupies +a position commencing at the centre, ending at the circumference. +Such leaf-blades, it is almost needless to say, are widest at the +extremity, since that is the portion which receives most light; often +the blade is roundish, and placed at the end of a bare leaf-stalk, +which pushes it further and further from the centre, as other leaves +arise. Such arrangements are well seen in many of our biennial +plants. During their first season they form a close leaf-rosette of +this kind, which manufactures during the summer and winter a supply +of plant-food to be stored for the building up of the tall flowering +stem of the succeeding year. The stork’s-bills, crane’s-bills, +teazel, and other plants will occur to the reader as examples. + +In the case of some plants, the normal position of the blade of +the leaf is not horizontal, but vertical. The black poplar and its +relation the aspen furnish well-known instances. If we examine the +stalk of an aspen leaf we notice that while the lower part of it +is circular in section, the part near the leaf is much flattened, +permitting free movement in the plane of the leaf-blade. This, +together with the position in which the leaves are borne on the +twigs, causes the leaves to hang vertically. One result is that the +light can stream almost unbroken through the branches even to the +ground below, the wealth of foliage producing but a faint tremulous +shadow as the leaves rustle in response to every breath of air. Well +does Scott, seeking for a simile, say in _Marmion_: + + “Variable as the shade + By the light quivering aspen made.” + +A peculiar point about these vertical leaves should be noted. On +the under side of leaves are situated a myriad of tiny openings +(_stomata_, mouths) through which the plant absorbs carbon dioxide +from the atmosphere, and having taken from it the carbon, liberates +the oxygen, the stomata being also used for the escape of the surplus +water of the plant. Now, the reason why these mouths are situated in +most plants on the under side of the leaves is no doubt because they +are thus protected from cold and rain and storm, and their work less +interfered with. In the aspen, with its vertical leaves, either side +of which is equally exposed to atmospheric vagaries, there is nothing +to choose between the two sides as regards the position of the +stomata, and as a matter of fact, these are equally distributed over +both sides of the leaf. A further modification of this kind we may +find in plants like the water-lily, the leaves of which float on the +surface of water. Following out our line of argument, we would expect +to find the stomata confined to the _upper_ side of such a leaf, so +that they may be in contact with the atmosphere, and this is exactly +what we do find. Plants whose leaves are all continually below the +surface of the water, such as the water lobelia and many pond-weeds, +must perforce be content with obtaining the carbon dioxide which they +require from the small quantity of that gas which is to be found +dissolved in the water. + +The protection of leaves against various hurtful agencies next +claims our attention. The typical leaf has its upper surface built +of strong, closely placed cells, to offer a stout resistance to +rain and hail, and to frost or overpowering sun-heat. In hot, dry +weather, when great evaporation is taking place, the plant can +close up all its stomata--shut down, so to speak, all the sluices +by which the water employed to convey dissolved salts from root +to leaf is allowed to escape, and thus retain an abundant water +supply in spite of parching heat. But in arid ground, such as sandy +wastes or sea-beaches, further protection against overtranspiration +may be desirable, and this is frequently effected by impervious +varnish-like layers on the upper surface of the leaves, or by dense +coverings of hairs. Layers of impermeable corky cells in the +epidermis or skin of the leaves are also frequently to be found +in plants liable to excessive transpiration. Such impermeable +leaves are beautifully developed in plants like the stone-crops, +which, growing in dry ground and on rocks, and being liable to +long-continued drought, store up in their leaves a copious water +supply. Such reservoir-leaves are greatly developed in the plants of +desert countries. Protection against the often fatal effect of frost +is likewise afforded by a thickening of the cuticle of leaves, and +especially by felt-like coverings of hairs. In some noteworthy cases +protection against cold is effected by means of movement on the part +of the leaves. The most familiar examples occurring among our native +plants are furnished by the trifoliate leaves of many of the clover +family. As evening approaches, the clovers and their allies fold +their three leaflets together by means of an upward movement; the +juxtaposition of the leaflets retards loss of heat, and the vertical +position which they thus assume has the same effect, tending to check +the radiation of heat to the cold sky overhead. The wood sorrel, +which, though of a quite different order, has leaves which resemble +those of the clovers, effects the same object by folding its leaflets +_downward_. + +Wet, which by lying on the leaves might hinder transpiration, must +also be guarded against; a danger which in many species is obviated +by means of a waxy excretion, especially on those parts of the leaves +where the stomata are situated; on which, as on an oily surface, +water will not lie. + +Another danger to which plants are exposed, and one which we might +think they would be powerless to meet, is the attacks of browsing +animals--animals of all sizes, from minute insects up to great +munching cattle. But to note how perfectly such defence may be +provided for we need only look at our common gorse, which boldly +invades the pasture, protected by its impenetrable chevaux-de-frise. +This plant, indeed, seems to have put so much of its vital energy +into the production of spines that it has none left with which to +produce leaves, and the making of plant-food has to be carried on +by the green and much-branched stems. The beautiful tribe of the +thistles naturally comes to our minds in this connection. Armed with +innumerable spines of the most exquisite structure, sharper and +more delicate far than needles, the spear thistle and marsh thistle +raise their tall and graceful forms untouched amid the close-browsed +herbage, and without fear of molestation--save from man, with his +implements of iron--open their flower-heads to the sun and the +insects, and scatter their numberless winged fruits to the wind. In +the thistle the spines are borne alike on the stems, leaves, and +involucres or outer whorls of the heads of flowers. The holly is an +interesting case. In low bushes the edges of the leaves are provided +with strong spines; but when the bush grows into a tree, and bears +leaves far above the reach of browsing animals, the unnecessary +spines disappear, and the edges of the leaves are entire. In the +blackthorn and hawthorn, the strong spines are modified branches; +and we may observe that they are much more numerous in young plants +than in old bushes. A more complicated mode of protection is found +in the nettles. They are furnished with hollow hairs, filled with a +virulent fluid, and bent at the tip. A slight pressure causes the +curved extremity to break across, leaving a slender tube, tapering to +an extremely fine point, which easily enters the flesh and discharges +a portion of its venomous contents. + +So far we have considered leaves as fulfilling their normal functions +of producing plant-food by means of chlorophyll cells. In conclusion, +brief reference may be made to various exceptions; for the production +of plant-food is not necessarily carried on by leaves, nor is the use +of leaves altogether limited to the production of plant-food. First, +leaves may be dispensed with, as we have already seen in the case of +the gorse. The stem may be modified to supply the place of leaves, +as in the butcher’s broom, whose flattened “leaves” are really +branches, as we see when we find flowers and fruit borne on these +flat leaf-like structures. + +In climbing plants the leaves, or a portion of them, are frequently +converted into tendrils, often endowed with a marvelous sense of +touch, for grasping supports and thus aiding the plant in its upward +climb through surrounding herbage to the light. This is seen in +many of the vetches, the upper end of whose leaves are modified in +this fashion. In the yellow vetchling (Lathyrus aphaca) a further +modification has taken place. The whole leaf is converted into a +tendril, while the stipules (the usually small pair of leaf-like +appendages that often grow at the point where a leaf joins a +stem) are enlarged into a very respectable pair of “leaves,” and +manufacture food while the true leaf helps the plant to climb. + + + + + WIND-FERTILIZED FLOWERS + --ALEXANDER S. WILSON + + +As an agent in cross-fertilization, the wind performs an +indispensable service to many plants. Flowers which depend on its +agency for the transport of their pollen are termed anemophilous; +those adapted to insects, entomophilous. Wind-fertilized blossoms +are all of small size, obscurely colored, and, even when clustered +together in catkins, inconspicuous; hence they escape observation +more readily than their entomophilous neighbors, which are adorned +with bright colors to allure visitors. Although anemophilous flowers +do not exhibit the variety of curious contrivances found in the +entomophilous class, they yet present a number of highly interesting +characters, and are well worthy of examination. Wind-fertilization +is universal in the lower or gymnospermous division of flowering +plants, of which we have examples in the pine, larch, cedar, and +other coniferous trees. The apetalous dicotyledons or Incompletæ form +another large group in which wind-fertilization prevails extensively. + +In this sub-class are included the various species of dock, +sorrel, nettle, pellitory of the wall, dog’s-mercury, goosefoot, +boxwood, hop, mulberry, elm, and catkin, bearing trees such as +the oak, hazel, beech, poplar, birch, alder, walnut, and willow, +all of which are wind-fertilized. Anemophily is not so common in +dicotyledons belonging to the sub-classes; it occurs, however, +in the ash, plantain, wormwood, mare’s-tail, and meadow-rue. The +number of wind-fertilized monocotyledons far exceeds those adapted +to insects, both as regards individuals and species. The extensive +order of grasses, the sedges, carices, and rushes, together with +the arrow-head, arrowgrass, bur-reed, and bulrush, are all without +exception anemophilous. It thus appears that wind-fertilization +occurs in many different and widely separated families. Certain +negative characters are common to all the wind-fertilized class; +no honey is secreted, no perfume emitted, and conspicuous colors +are wanting. On flowers of this description it is difficult for a +large insect like a bee to obtain a footing; there is no corolla +that can serve as a landing-stage for insects to alight. For these +reasons anemophilous blossoms are almost entirely neglected by bees +and other flower-hunting insects; only in exceptional instances +do visitors have recourse to them in search of pollen, but this +is so dry and has so little cohesion that it must be difficult +indeed for a bee to collect an appreciable quantity of anemophilous +pollen. Wind-fertilized flowers thus offer little or no attraction +to insects, and are in no way adapted to derive benefit from +their visits. On the other hand, there exists in them a number +of provisions which admirably adapt them for cross-fertilization +through atmospheric agency. The most important of these is abundant +pollen; always more than in insect-fertilized blossoms, the quantity +produced by some plants of the wind-fertilized class is enormous. +The so-called showers of sulphur, occasionally reported in the +newspapers, are really great deposits of pollen blown from the male +cone of the Scotch fir. It has been known to fall on ships at sea, +and has been swept up in bucketsful from their decks. The common +ash discharges an immense quantity from its innumerable flowers, so +much so that a person shaking a branch when the tree is in bloom is +dusted from head to foot with the dry, powdery pollen. That of the +elm is also very abundant, and this is more or less characteristic +of all plants which depend for cross-fertilization on the wind. At +certain seasons, the air may be said to be literally charged with the +pollen of anemophilous plants. In the beginning of May, I exposed on +the window-sill for forty-eight hours a microscopic slide smeared +with syrup, and on examining it afterward detected upward of fifty +pollen-grains belonging to various trees, some of which are not to be +found within a radius of two miles. The efficiency of the wind as a +fertilizing agent is, therefore, much greater than one might suppose. + +The pollen grains of insect-fertilized flowers are frequently, as +in the harebell, colt’s-foot, and mallow, studded over with little +projecting points; these cause them to adhere readily to each +other or to the hairs of an insect. In other cases the pollen is +viscid, and the granules are difficult to separate. This cohesive +character obviously renders them ill-adapted for transference by +means of the wind; accordingly, the pollen of wind-fertilized +plants is excessively light and dry, the granules are smooth, +they do not stick together, and this incoherence facilitates their +wide dispersion. A special provision exists in the pine, whereby +its pollen is rendered lighter and more easily wafted by the wind; +the extine or outer membrane of each granule is inflated into two +globular air-sacs, which reduce its specific gravity so that it can +keep longer afloat in the air. + +Although there are wind-fertilized species to be found in bloom all +the year round, a large number, especially of trees, blossom early +in the season; the hazel comes into bloom in February, the elm, +poplar, and willow following in March or April. The little flowers of +the willow are already developed within the bud at the beginning of +winter; in spring they merely expand. It is, therefore, probable that +trees of this class originally flowered toward the end of the year, +but ultimately became so belated that the opening of their flowers +had to be delayed over winter. During the dry, windy days of spring, +when the farmer sows his seed-corn, the flowers of our anemophilous +trees are in perfection. At this early period, when so few insects +are abroad, these unattractive blossoms are not likely to be visited. + +A marked peculiarity of anemophilous trees is the appearance of the +flowers before the foliage; the blossoms of the elm, poplar, ash, +and willow, for example, are put forth while as yet the branches +are entirely leafless. This arrangement is clearly advantageous; +the foliage would protect the flowers from the wind, preventing its +gaining access to the stigmas and interfering with the removal of the +pollen. + +The fir does not shed its leaves in autumn, as deciduous trees do, +but its needle-like foliage interferes as little as possible in the +way indicated; nevertheless, the male and female cones are developed +on the branches of the fir in the most exposed positions. A good +illustration of the manner in which wind-fertilized plants secure the +exposure of their blossoms is seen in the dog’s-mercury (Mercurialis +perennis). This plant, common in most districts, has rather large +leaves; they expand before the flowers, and would be a great +hindrance to wind-fertilization were it not that the little staminate +flowers are elevated on long, slender stalks which spring from the +axils of the leaves and entirely overtop the foliage. The male catkin +of the oak is an inflorescence of the same description, not erect, +however, but pendulous, and so flexible that it swings freely in the +lightest breeze. After the flowering period, the ground under the +oak, poplar, and other trees is strewn with their male catkins; these +are caducous, falling off soon after they have shed their pollen; the +catkins of female flowers are necessarily persistent, though a few +may occasionally be broken off by the violence of the wind. + +In reeds and grasses, the entire plant, being flexible, is easily +shaken by the wind, and the ripe pollen is readily dislodged from the +anthers; but where the stem is more rigid either the flower stalks +are slender or the stamens have thin, thread-like filaments; or the +entire inflorescence is mobile; in any case provision is made in the +structure of the flower for the agitation of the anthers by the wind. +Slender flower stalks are seen in the dock and in the quaking grass +(Briza). The ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and a great many +grasses have their anthers borne on long, excessively thin stalks, so +that they quiver in the slightest breeze. Broad and leaf-shaped, the +anther itself in plantago is clearly adapted, like the seed-vessels +of some crucifers, to be set in motion by the wind. On a calm and +warm day in summer the gentlest touch is sufficient to make many +grasses, such as the foxtail, cock’s-foot or timothy, emit a little +cloud of pollen. Some grasses even appear to eject the pollen with +force either by the explosion of the pollen-sacs or by a sudden +jerking of the stamens. The nettle and pellitory have each four +elastic stamens; when the flower opens, these are bent inward toward +the centre in a constrained position; later on the tension is removed +and the liberated stamens suddenly straighten out, scattering their +pollen like little puffs of smoke. The object of this liliputian +artillery is to throw the pollen away quite clear of the plant by +which it was produced. + +Petals in ordinary flowers are intended to secure the attention +of insects; to wind-fertilized blossoms, having no occasion for +visitors, they are unnecessary. So far from an advantage, the +presence of a corolla would exclude the wind from the essential +organs. Accordingly, petals are either absent altogether or reduced +to rudimentary proportions. The calyx is also much reduced, and +in some flowers is dispensed with entirely. Comparatively few +anemophilous flowers possess both sets of floral envelopes. +Plantago is, however, dichlamydeous, but its chaffy petals afford +incontrovertible evidence of degeneration from the entomophilous +condition. + +The stigma in the wind-fertilized class is highly specialized, and +much larger relatively to the other parts of the flower than is +the case with entomophilous blossoms. It is commonly penicillate, +consisting of a tuft of hairs, as in nettle; feathery, as in grasses; +or elongated and thread-like, as in plantago and the rushes. The +spirally twisted stigmas of the last-mentioned flowers are beautiful +objects when examined with a pocket lens. The larger the surface +which the stigma presents to the wind, the greater are the chances +of pollination. Its fine fringes of papillose hairs are also well +calculated to entangle the pollen-grains, while the viscid secretion +serves to retain them when caught. This adaptation may be seen in the +common rye grass; each tiny blossom as it expands hangs out its two +white, feathery stigmas from the sides of the spikelet, reminding +one of a fisherman spreading out his nets, or a sailor his studding +sails to catch the favoring breeze. At the time of fertilization the +dock, too, thrusts out its three little brush-like stigmas between +the lobes of the perianth. It is instructive to compare these +wind-fertilized flowers of Rumex with those of the nearly allied +genus Polygonum, which is entomophilous. The perianth of the latter +is rose-colored; the stigmas are included within it, never exserted +as in the dock--they are not at all brush-like or feathery, but in +the form of little knobs; the stamens and flower-stalks are rigid; +moreover, the various species of Polygonum secrete nectar and are +frequented by many different insects. Stigmas are entirely absent in +the gymnospermous division, but in most Coniferæ the ovule at the +time of flowering secretes a drop of liquid, and the pollen-grains +caught on it are, as the fluid gradually evaporates, stranded on +the nucleus of the ovule. The ovule of the larch is provided with +elongated papillæ, functionally equivalent to a stigma. + +A flower is said to be hermaphrodite or monoclinous when, as in +the elm, both stamens and pistils are present in the same blossom. +With insect-fertilized flowers this is mostly the case, though +there are some exceptions, such as the cucumber and begonia, which +are unisexual or diclinous, stamens and pistils being produced in +separate blossoms. The diclinous condition is exceedingly common +in the wind-fertilized class. The staminate or male, and the +pistillate or female, flowers are sometimes found growing on the +same individual plant, which is then termed monœcious, as in the +oak, hazel, birch, pine, etc. The poplar, willow, yew, juniper, +nettle, and dog’s-mercury, on the other hand, are diœcious; their +staminate and pistillate flowers grow on separate plants. This +separation of the sexes renders self-fertilization impossible, and +secures whatever benefit may arise from the physiological division +of labor. Anemophilous species in general show a marked tendency in +the direction of separation. Self-fertilization may be prevented +in monoclinous flowers by the stamens and stigmas maturing at +different times. This arrangement, known as dichogamy, occurs in +both insect and wind-fertilized blossoms, but while the former +usually have the stamens in advance of the stigmas, in the latter +the reverse order is much more frequent. There are thus two kinds of +dichogamy--protandrous, when the stamens are in advance; protogynous, +if the pistils are first developed. Protogyny is characteristic of +wind-fertilized flowers, and may be easily observed in the rush +and plantain. In the first or female stage of the flower of the +rush, the thread-like stigma protrudes from the top of the still +unopened perianth, while the stamens, as yet immature, are completely +concealed. In the second stage, the pollinated stigmas have begun to +shrivel, the perianth has now spread out, disclosing the six stamens +which are ready to discharge their pollen. The same two stages are +equally apparent in plantago. All our readers must be familiar +with the black heads of this plant, which are to be seen in every +pasture, bending and waving in the wind. In the first stage, the +head appears black, but on looking into it we see projecting from +each little unopened floret a white thread-like stigma. Later on, +the lower part of the spike or head is seen to be encircled by a +wreath of tiny white bodies, and closer inspection shows that these +are the stamens, four of which project like little banners from +each of the newly opened florets. The protogynous character belongs +in the bur-reed to the plant itself rather than the individual +flowers. Its pistillate flowers, which are lowermost, expand first; +only when their stigmas have withered do the male florets higher up +begin discharging their pollen. In this case, it is evident that +the flowers on any plant must be fertilized with pollen from another +in more advanced condition. A social habit is highly characteristic +of wind-fertilized plants--pines, grasses, sedges, nettles, etc., +usually grow together in considerable numbers. Entomophilous plants +have a much more sporadic character, and admit of a greater degree +of isolation; their guests, doubtless, maintain the necessary +communication between members of the species. This social habit +partly explains the tendency toward the diœcious condition, for a +complete separation of the sexes is hardly possible, except in plants +of social habit. From the gymnosperms, the oldest flowering plants, +being all wind-fertilized, it has been inferred that such must also +have been the case with the primitive angiosperms. It is not certain, +however, that any of their representatives remain, for many of our +existing wind-fertilized flowers appear to be merely degraded forms. +Anemophilous species appear in families, the rest of which are highly +specialized in relation to insects. Some species of plantago are +adapted to insects; others, as we have seen, to the wind. Most of +the sub-classes with incomplete flowers, from which so many of our +examples are taken, also exhibit striking marks of degeneration, +and the same may be said of the grasses and other anemophilous +monocotyledons. We also find some flowers in an intermediate +condition, such as the vine and certain willows, which secrete honey +and are visited by insects. Facts of this description are held by +some to show that all existing anemophilous species, with the +exception of the gymnosperms, are descended from bright-colored, +insect-fertilized ancestors. + +Wind-fertilization has, in some instances, been rendered highly +efficient, but in any case it is far from economical, for the vast +amount of pollen miscarried represents an enormous loss to plants; +neither does this method admit of the same certainty and precision as +the other. A wind-fertilized bears to an insect-fertilized blossom +very much the relation which an æolian harp bears to a pianoforte. + + + + + MOVEMENTS OF PLANTS + --DAVID ROBERTSON + + +Scarcely any one can have failed to notice that many plants close +their flowers when evening approaches, others again at various +periods of the day, while some close their flowers when the sky is +overcast; foliage leaves also are in many cases subject to periodic +movements. + +The movements of different plants are dependent on various causes. + +Some of these movements are solely mechanical, and caused by the +tissues being affected, owing to the condition of the surrounding air +and to varying states of turgidity and exhaustion. + +Other movements are apparently due to physical causes, but can not be +fully explained by attributing them to these causes. + +Movements in plants also depend upon the contractile quality of the +protoplasm in the cells, and on the passage of the protoplasm from +cell to cell. The property of the protoplasm gives rise to movements +caused by the plant itself, which are not at least directly due to +any external exciting cause. These movements can be compared with the +movements of the lower animals, and to the ciliary motion found in +certain tissues belonging to the most highly organized animals. + +The periodic movements, such as the “waking” and “sleeping” condition +of leaves, the closing of flowers, etc., are manifested only when the +organs are fully matured, and when the peculiarity of their internal +structure which gives rise to the phenomena of periodic movements is +fully developed. + +These movements are to be carefully distinguished from those due to +unequal growth, such as movements of nutation. In this case there is +no special structure upon which the movements depend. + +The bursting of seed-vessels, anthers, etc., is due partly to the +fact that the condition of the tissues, as regards the amount of +liquid they contain from their possessing unequal power of imbibing +moisture, is not equally elastic. For this reason, when the less +elastic portions of tissue are subjected to strain they are torn +apart or bent in various ways, owing to unequal contractions and +expansions, caused by an access or withdrawal of moisture. + +These cases can scarcely be regarded as vital phenomena, but should +rather come under the category of what is in ordinary language +named “warping.” They are simply caused by particular modes of the +destruction of dead tissue due to conditions brought about by +variations in the structure of the tissues in question. + +Movements in plants which take place periodically, such as sleeping +and waking, or those movements that take place when they are touched +or otherwise affected by certain kinds of exciting stimulus, can +not be attributed to mechanical causes. The slightest mechanical +stimulus on the sensitive plant Mimosa pudica causes the leaflets to +fold together. Such movements are not proportional to the external +stimulus, but depend on the internal structure of the plant. + +To this class of movements have been added the very remarkable +movements which give rise to the twining condition of certain stems. + +Another class of movements may be mentioned, viz., movements of the +protoplasm in cells, or movements of free bodies, such as zoospores +(Greek, _zoon_, animal, and _spora_, seed), antherozoids (Greek, +_anthos_, flower; _zoon_, animal; _eidos_, form), and sometimes even +perfect individuals, such as Desmediæ, etc., which may have the power +of temporary or permanent locomotion. + +The rotation of the protoplasm of cells is attributed to causes +similar to those which produce locomotion in the simpler plants, and +these movements are strikingly like some of the movements of the +protozoa in the animal kingdom. The movements of the products of cell +contents having no cell-wall, such as zoospores and antherozoids, +are generally caused by the rapid movement of cilia (plural of the +Latin word _cilium_, an eyelid) or small filaments which cover the +surface. The locomotion of certain plants, such as Diatomaceæ, is +apparently not due to cilia. + +Sensitive plants, such as the Mimosa pudica, are strongly affected +by any mechanical stimulus, and thus afford us examples of the +phenomenon named “irritability.” + +The sleep of plants is most probably a case of irritability, and +differs only in degree, not in kind. + +Sensitiveness in plants is affected both by light and heat. It has +been experimentally proved that sensitive plants, if kept in the +dark, lose their sensibility after a period of seven days, and +actually die after twelve days. + +We know that white light is composed of light of different colors. +Light is propagated in waves, and each color is distinguished by +having a different wave-length from that of any other color. Red +light differs, for example, from violet light in the length of its +waves, and violet light differs from blue, etc. + +It is, therefore, not surprising to find that the different +colored rays are capable of producing different effects. It has +been ascertained that under the influence of green light sensitive +plants die after sixteen days’ exposure, though they retain their +sensibility for twelve days. + +When the plants were exposed to violet and blue light, their growth +completely ceased. They, however, retained their vitality as well as +their sensibility for three months. The effect of heat on sensitive +plants has also been ascertained. + +The sensitiveness and periodical movements of Mimosa do not begin +till the temperature of the surrounding air exceeds 15° C. The +periodical movements of the lateral leaflets of the Indian telegraph +plant (Desmodium gyrans) can only occur when the temperature exceeds +22° C. + +When the temperature of the air is 40° C., the leaves become stiff +in less than an hour, and at 48° C. to 50° C. rigidity takes +place within a few minutes; but when the temperature falls, the +sensitiveness may again be manifested. + +A temperature of 52° C. not only causes loss of permanent motion, but +also the death of the plant. + +The mechanism to which the periodic movements of plants is due is not +by any means fully known. + +The particular circumstances which regulate the turgidity have not +been, so far, determined with precision. + +It has, however, been clearly ascertained that this turgid state +is associated with the passage of fine threads or filaments of +protoplasm from one cell to another, and at the same time with an +accumulation of a soluble chemical compound named glucose, a kind +of sugar, in fact. This substance possesses great osmotic power; +that is, it can pass very rapidly through the flexible cell-walls +of the pulvinus forming the so-called springs. These movements are, +therefore, closely connected with the rapid absorption and expulsion +of liquid. + +Contrary to the habit of most plants, the sensitive plant raises its +leaves at night and closes them by day. + +The most usual kind of movement in these plants is that in which the +leaves as well as the floral envelopes assume the position they +occupied before the buds opened. + +Compound leaves, such as the leaves of the Leguminosæ, or pea-family, +exhibit a simple or compound movement. + +The leaves of the bean fold upward, those of the Lupinus fold +downward. In Tamarinds the leaves fold to the side. In some other +plants the common petiole of the compound leaves become raised or +depressed, while the leaflets turn downward or sidewise. This is the +case in Amorpha fruticosa and Gleditschia tracanthus. + +In the well-known Mimosa pudica, which is a hothouse plant in +temperate regions, the leaflets fold together, the small stalks of +the leaflets of the compound leaves of this plant approach each +other, and the main petiole becomes depressed. + +In one exceedingly sensitive species of Oxalis, the pinnate leaves +fold upward. A footfall is said to be sufficient to cause it to close +its leaves. + +When these movements of leaves or leaf-organs take place at stated +hours, and when the leaves remain in the new position after the +movement has ceased until a particular period of time recur, the +closing up is called the _sleep_ of plants. This condition is +observed both in seed-leaves and true leaves, as well as in the +petals of flowers. + +So far as can be made out, the object of this closing of the leaves +seems to be to prevent the chilling effect due to radiation from +being injurious to the plant. This folding up causes a smaller extent +of surface to be exposed. Radiation of heat during a clear night +goes on rapidly from all surfaces such as those of expanded leaves. +The closing of the leaves may be supposed to form a protective +covering, which prevents the heat passing away into space, and thus +saves the plant from the injurious effects of cold. + +This is only true of the foliage leaves, which expand during the day +and close during the night. + +The period at which the movement of closing and opening of flowers +takes place is very varied. Ordinary leaves, as has been stated, +close toward evening and open in the day. The periods of opening +and closing in the case of flowers vary considerably, being +affected, no doubt, by the visits of insects, which carry the pollen +from plant to plant belonging to the same species. By this means +flowers are fertilized, and the seeds resulting from plants that +are so fertilized are much more numerous than those resulting from +self-fertilized plants. Some plants, such as the pimpernel, close +their petals when the sky is overcast. This is doubtless to protect +the pollen from the injurious effects of rain. This kind of closing, +however, is not to be confounded with the regular and periodic +closing and opening of flowers. + +The diversity in the regular and periodic opening and closing of +flowers in regard to time is so great that Linnæus was able to +arrange flowers in a list in accordance with their times of opening +and closing. + +This list he named a _Horologium floræ_, or floral clock, the time of +opening or closing representing each succeeding hour. + +Some closing flowers open under the influence of strong artificial +light, such, for example, as Crocus and Gentiana verna; on others, +however, such as Convolvulus, artificial light has no effect. + +The closing of flowers is usually a slow process, as may easily be +observed, but there are exceptions to this. + +“In Desmodium gyrans” (the Indian telegraph-plant) “the trilobate +compound leaf has a large terminal leaflet and a smaller one on each +side. When the plant is exposed to bright sunlight in a hothouse, +the end leaflet stands horizontally, and it folds downward in the +evening, but the lateral leaflets move constantly during the heat +of the day, advancing, edgewise, first toward the end leaflet, and +then returning and moving toward the base of the common petiole +alternately on each side, in a manner very well compared to the +movements of the arm of the old semaphore telegraphs.” + +Such are some of the more striking movements of plants. Even in +cases where the precise advantage, as far as regards the economy of +plant life, is not fully ascertained, it can not be doubted that +such movements are advantageous. In strict accordance with the +accepted theory of evolution, no peculiarity would be continued from +generation to generation of either plants or animals, if it possessed +no essential characteristic which helped the plant or animal to hold +its own in “the struggle for existence.” + +[Illustration: Cacti, Rare Flowers, and Fuci + +Cacti--1 and 3, Mamillaria; 2, Echinocactus; 4, Cereus. Fuci--5, +Sargassum; 6, Agarum; 7, Thalassophyllum. The Wool Tree (Bombax) and +the Rafflesia Arnoldi] + + + + + MOVEMENT IN PLANTS + --CHARLES DARWIN + + +Plants become climbers in order, it may be presumed, to reach the +light and to expose a large surface of leaves to its action and to +that of the free air. This is effected by climbers with wonderfully +little expenditure of organized matter, in comparison with trees, +which have to support a load of heavy branches by a massive trunk. +Hence, no doubt, it arises that there are in all quarters of the +world so many climbing plants belonging to so many different +orders. These plants are here classed under three heads. First, +hook-climbers, which are, at least in our temperate countries, +the least efficient of all, and can climb only in the midst of an +entangled vegetation. Secondly, root-climbers, which are excellently +adapted to ascend naked faces of rock: when they climb trees, they +are compelled to keep much in the shade; they can not pass from +branch to branch, and thus cover the whole summit of a tree, for +their rootlets can adhere only by long-continued and close contact +with a steady surface. Thirdly, the great class of spiral climbers, +with the subordinate divisions of leaf-climbers and tendril-bearers, +which together far exceed in number and in perfection of mechanism +the climbers of the two previous classes. These plants, by their +power of spontaneously revolving and grasping objects with which they +come in contact, can easily pass from branch to branch, and securely +wander over a wide and sunlit surface. I have ranked twiners, leaf +and tendril-climbers as subdivisions of one class, because they +graduate into each other, and because nearly all have the same +remarkable power of spontaneously revolving. Does this gradation, +it may be asked, indicate that plants belonging to one subdivision +have passed, during the lapse of ages, or can pass, from one state +to the other; has, for instance, a tendril-bearing plant assumed +its present structure without having previously existed either as a +leaf-climber or a twiner? If we consider leaf-climbers alone, the +idea that they were primordially twiners is forcibly suggested. The +internodes of all, without exception, revolve in exactly the same +manner as twiners; and some few can twine as well, and many others +in a more or less imperfect manner. Several leaf-climbing genera are +closely allied to other genera which are simple twiners. It should be +observed that the possession by a plant of leaves with their petioles +or tips sensitive, and with the consequent power of clasping any +object, would be of very little use, unless associated with revolving +internodes, by which the leaves could be brought into contact with +surrounding objects. On the other hand, revolving internodes, without +other aid, suffice to give the power of climbing, so that, unless we +suppose that leaf-climbers simultaneously acquired both capacities, +it seems probable that they were first twiners, and subsequently +became capable of grasping a support, which, as we shall presently +see, is a great additional advantage. + +From analogous reasons, it is probable that tendril-bearing plants +were primordially twiners--that is, are the descendants of plants +having this power and habit. For the internodes of the majority +revolve, like those of twining plants; and, in a very few, the +flexible stem still retains the capacity of spirally twining +round an upright stick. With some the internodes have lost even +the revolving power. Tendril-bearers have undergone much more +modification than leaf-climbers; hence it is not surprising that +their supposed primordial revolving and twining habits have been +lost or modified more frequently than with leaf-climbers. The three +great tendril-bearing families in which this loss has occurred in +the most marked manner are the Cucurbitaceæ, Passifloraceæ, and +Vitaceæ. In the first the internodes revolve; but I have heard of no +twining form, with the exception of Mormodica balsamina, and this is +only an imperfect twiner. In the other two families I can hear of no +twiners; and the internodes rarely have the power of revolving, this +power being confined to the tendrils; nevertheless, the internodes of +Passiflora gracilis have this power in a perfect manner, and those of +the common vine in an imperfect degree: so that at least a trace of +the supposed primordial habit is always retained by some members of +the larger tendril-bearing groups. + +On the view here given, it may be asked, Why have nearly all the +plants in so many aboriginally twining groups been converted into +leaf-climbers or tendril-bearers? Of what advantage could this have +been to them? Why did they not remain simple twiners? We can see +several reasons. It might be an advantage to a plant to acquire a +thicker stem, with short internodes bearing many or large leaves; +and such stems are ill fitted for twining. Any one who will look +during windy weather at twining plants will see that they are +easily blown from their support; not so with tendril-bearers or +leaf-climbers, for they quickly and firmly grasp their support by a +much more efficient kind of movement. In those plants which still +twine, but at the same time possess tendrils or sensitive petioles, +as some species of Bignonia, Clematis, and Tropæolum, we can readily +observe how incomparably more securely they grasp an upright stick +than do simple twiners. From possessing the power of movement on +contact, tendrils can be made very long and thin; so that little +organic matter is expended in their development, and yet a wide +circle is swept. Tendril-bearers can, from their first growth, ascend +along the outer branches of any neighboring bush, and thus always +keep in the full light; twiners, on the contrary, are best fitted +to ascend bare stems, and generally have to start in the shade. In +dense tropical forests, with crowded and bare stems, twining plants +would probably succeed better than most kinds of tendril-bearers; but +the majority of twiners, at least in our temperate regions, from the +nature of their revolving movement, can not ascend a thick trunk, +whereas this can be effected by tendril-bearers, if the trunks carry +many branches or twigs; and in some cases they can ascend by special +means a trunk without branches, but with a rugged bark. + +The object of all climbing plants is to reach the light and free air +with as little expenditure of organic matter as possible; now, with +spirally ascending plants, the stem is much longer than is absolutely +necessary; for instance, I measured the stem of a kidney-bean which +had ascended exactly two feet in height, and it was three feet in +length: the stem of a pea, ascending by its tendrils, would, on the +other hand, have been but little longer than the height gained. That +this saving of stem is really an advantage to climbing plants I infer +from observing that those that still twine, but are aided by clasping +petioles or tendrils, generally make more open spires than those made +by simple twiners. Moreover, such plants very generally, after taking +one or two turns in one direction, ascend for a space straight, and +then reverse the direction of the spire. By this means they ascend +to a considerably greater height, with the same length of stem, than +would otherwise be possible; and they can do it with safety, as they +secure themselves at intervals by their clasping petioles. + +Tendrils consist of various organs in a modified state, namely, +leaves and flower-peduncles, and perhaps branches and stipules. +The position alone generally suffices to show when a tendril has +been formed from a leaf; and in Bignonia the lower leaves are often +perfect, while the upper ones terminate in a tendril in place of a +terminal leaflet; in Eccremocarpus I have seen a lateral branch of a +tendril replaced by a perfect leaflet; and in Vicia sativa, on the +other hand, leaflets are sometimes replaced by tendril-branches; +and many other such cases could be given. But he who believes in +the slow modification of species will not be content simply to +ascertain the homological nature of different tendrils; he will wish +to learn, as far as possible, by what steps parts acting as leaves or +as flower-peduncles can have wholly changed their function, and have +come to serve as prehensile organs. + +In the whole group of leaf-climbers abundant evidence has been +given that an organ, still subserving its proper function as a +leaf, may become sensitive to a touch, and thus grasp an adjoining +object. In several leaf-climbers true leaves spontaneously revolve; +and their petioles, after clasping a support, grow thicker and +stronger. We thus see that true leaves may acquire all the leading +and characteristic qualities of tendrils, namely, sensitiveness, +spontaneous movement, and subsequent thickening and induration. If +their blades or laminæ were to abort, they would form true tendrils. +And of this process of abortion we have seen every stage; for in an +ordinary tendril, as in that of the pea, we can discover no trace +of its primordial nature; in Mutisia clematis, the tendril in shape +and color closely resembles a petiole with the denuded midribs of +its leaflets; and occasionally vestiges of laminæ are retained +or reappear. Lastly, in four genera in the same family of the +Fumariaceæ we see the whole gradation; for the terminal leaflets of +the leaf-climbing Fumaria officinalis are not smaller than the other +leaflets; those of the leaf-climbing Adlumia cirrhosa are greatly +reduced; those of the Corydalis claviculata (a plant which may be +indifferently called a leaf-climber or tendril-bearer) are either +reduced to microscopical dimensions or have their blades quite +aborted, so that this plant is in an actual state of transition; and, +finally, in the Dicentra the tendrils are perfectly characterized. +Hence, if we were to see at the same time all the progenitors of the +Dicentra, we should almost certainly behold a series like that now +exhibited by the above-named four genera. In Tropæolum tricolorum we +have another kind of passage; for the leaves which are first formed +on the young plant are entirely destitute of laminæ, and must be +called tendrils, while the later formed leaves have well-developed +laminæ. In all cases, in the several kinds of leaf-climbers and of +tendril-bearers, the acquirement of sensitiveness by the midribs +of the leaves apparently stands in the closest relation with the +abortion of their laminæ or blades. + +On the view here given, leaf-climbers were primordially twiners, and +tendril-bearers (of the modified leaf division) were primordially +leaf-climbers. Hence leaf-climbers are intermediate in nature between +twiners and tendril-bearers, and ought to be related to both. This is +the case: thus the several leaf-climbing species of the Antirrhineæ, +of Solanum, of Cocculus, of Gloriosa are related to the other genera +in the same family, or even to other species in the same genus, which +are true climbers. On the other hand, the leaf-climbing species of +Clematis are very closely allied to the tendril-bearing Naravelia: +the Fumariaceæ include closely allied genera which are leaf-climbers +and tendril-bearers. Lastly, one species of Bignonia is both a +leaf-climber and a tendril-bearer, and other closely allied species +are twiners. + +Tendrils of the second great division consist of modified +flower-peduncles. In this case likewise we have many interesting +transitional states. The common vine (not to mention the +Cardiospermum) gives us every possible grade from finely developed +tendrils to a bunch of flower-buds, bearing the single usual lateral +flower-tendril. And when the latter itself bears some flowers, as we +know is not rarely the case, and yet retains the power of clasping a +support, we see the primordial state of all these tendrils which have +been formed by the modification of flower-peduncles. + +According to Mohl and others, some tendrils consist of modified +branches. I have seen no such case, and, therefore, of course, know +nothing of any transitional states, if such occur. But Lophospermum, +at least, shows us that such a transition is possible; for its +branches spontaneously revolve, and are sensitive to contact. Hence, +if the leaves of some of the branches were to abort, they would be +converted into true tendrils. Nor is it so improbable as may at first +appear that certain branches alone should become modified, the others +remaining unaltered; for with certain varieties of Phaseolus some of +the branches are thin and flexible and twine, while other branches on +the same plant are stiff and have no such power. + +If we inquire how the petiole of a leaf, or the peduncle of a +flower, or a branch first becomes sensitive and acquires the power +of bending toward the touched side, we get no certain answer. +Nevertheless, an observation by Hofmeister well deserves attention, +namely, that the shoots and leaves of all plants, while young, move +after being shaken; and it is almost invariably young petioles and +young tendrils, whether of modified leaves or flower-peduncles, +which move on being touched; so that it would appear as if these +plants had utilized and perfected a widely distributed and incipient +capacity, which capacity, as far as we can see, is of no service +to ordinary plants. If we further inquire how the stems, petioles, +tendrils, and flower-peduncles of climbing plants first acquired +their power of spontaneously revolving or, to speak more accurately, +of successively bending to all points of the compass, we are again +silenced, or at most can only remark, that the power of movement, +both spontaneous and from various stimuli, is far more common with +plants, as we shall presently see, than is generally supposed to +be the case by those who have not attended to the subject. There +is, however, one remarkable case of the Maurandia semperflorens, in +which the young flower-peduncles spontaneously revolve in very small +circles, and bend themselves, when gently rubbed, to the touched +side; yet this plant certainly profits in no way by these two feebly +developed powers. A rigorous examination of other young plants would +probably show some slight spontaneous movement in the peduncles +and petioles, as well as that sensitiveness to shaking observed by +Hofmeister. We see at least in the Maurandia a plant which might, +by a little augmentation of qualities which it already possesses, +come first to grasp a support by its flower-peduncles (as with Vitis +or Cardiospermum) and then, by the abortion of some of its flowers, +acquire perfect tendrils. + +There is one interesting point which deserves notice. We have seen +that some tendrils have originated from modified leaves, and others +from modified flower-peduncles; so that some are foliar and some +axial in their homological nature. Hence it might have been expected +that they would have presented some difference in function. This is +not the case. On the contrary, they present the most perfect identity +in their several remarkable characteristics. Tendrils of both kinds +spontaneously revolve at about the same rate. Both, when touched, +bend quickly to the touched side, and afterward recover themselves +and are able to act again. In both the sensitiveness is either +confined to one side or extends all round the tendril. They are +either attracted or repelled by the light. The tips of the tendrils +in these two plants become, after contact, enlarged into disks, which +are at first adhesive by the secretion of some cement. Tendrils of +both kinds, soon after grasping a support, contract spirally; they +then increase greatly in thickness and strength. When we add to these +several points of identity the fact of the petiole of the Solanum +jaspinoides assuming the most characteristic feature of the axis, +namely, a closed ring of woody vessels, we can hardly avoid asking +whether the difference between foliar and axial organs can be of so +fundamental a nature as is generally supposed to be the case. + +We have attempted to trace some of the stages in the genesis of +climbing plants. But, during the endless fluctuations in the +conditions of life to which all organic beings have been exposed, it +might have been expected that some climbing plants would have lost +the habit of climbing. In the cases of certain South African plants +belonging to great twining families, which in certain districts +of their native country never twine, but resume this habit when +cultivated in England, we have a case in point. In the leaf-climbing +Clematis flammula, and in the tendril-bearing vine, we see no loss +in the power of climbing, but only a remnant of that revolving power +which is indispensable to all twiners, and is so common, as well as +so advantageous, to most climbers. In Tecoma radicans, one of the +Bignoniaceæ, we see a last and doubtful trace of the revolving power. + +With respect to the abortion of tendrils, certain cultivated +varieties of Cucurbita pepo have, according to Naudin, either quite +lost these organs or bear semi-monstrous representatives of them. +In my limited experience I have met with only one instance of their +natural suppression, namely, in the common bean. All the other +species of Vicia, I believe, bear tendrils; but the bean is stiff +enough to support its own stem, and in this species, at the end of +the petiole where a tendril ought to have arisen, a small pointed +filament is always present, about a third of an inch in length, and +which must be considered as the rudiment of a tendril. This may be +the more safely inferred, because I have seen in young, unhealthy +specimens of true tendril-bearing plants similar rudiments. In the +bean these filaments are variable in shape, as is so frequently +the case with all rudimentary organs, being either cylindrical or +foliaceous, or deeply furrowed on the upper surface. It is a rather +curious little fact that many of these filaments when foliaceous +have dark-colored glands on their lower surfaces, like those on the +stipules, which secrete a sweet fluid; so that these rudiments have +been feebly utilized. + +One other analogous case, though hypothetical, is worth giving. +Nearly all the species of Lathyrus possess tendrils; but L. nissolia +is destitute of them. This plant has leaves which must have struck +every one who has noticed them with surprise, for they are quite +unlike those of all common papilionaceous plants, and resemble those +of a grass. In L. aphaca the tendril, which is not highly developed +(for it is unbranched, and has no spontaneous revolving power), +replaces the leaves, the latter in function being replaced by the +large stipules. Now, if we suppose the tendrils of L. aphaca to +become flattened and foliaceous, like the little rudimentary tendrils +of the bean, and the large stipules, not being any longer wanted, to +become at the same time reduced in size, we should have the exact +counterpart of L. nissolia, and its curious leaves are at once +rendered intelligible to us. + +It may be added, as it will serve to sum up the foregoing views on +the origin of tendril-bearing plants, that if these views be correct, +L. nissolia must be descended from a primordial spirally twining +plant; that this became a leaf-climber; that first part of the +leaf and then the whole leaf became converted into a tendril, with +the stipules by compensation greatly increased in size; that this +tendril lost its branches and became simple, then lost its revolving +power (in which state it would resemble the tendril of the existing +L. aphaca), and afterward losing its prehensile power and becoming +foliaceous would no longer be called a tendril. In this last stage +(that of the existing L. nissolia) the former tendril would reassume +its original function as a leaf, and its lately largely developed +stipules, being no longer wanted, would decrease in size. If it be +true that species become modified in the course of ages, we may +conclude that L. nissolia is the result of a long series of changes, +in some degree like those just traced. + +The most interesting point in the natural history of climbing plants +is their diverse power of movement; and this led one on to their +study. The most different organs--the stem, flower-peduncle, petiole, +midribs of the leaf or leaflets, and apparently aerial roots--all +possess this power. + +In the first place, the tendrils place themselves in the proper +position for action, standing, for instance, in the Cobæa, vertically +upward, with their branches divergent and their hooks turned outward, +and with the young terminal shoot thrown on one side; or, as in +Clematis, the young leaves temporarily curve themselves downward, so +as to serve as grapnels. + +Secondly, if the young shoot of a twining plant, or of a tendril, +be placed in an inclined position, it soon bends upward, though +completely secluded from the light. The guiding stimulus to this +movement is no doubt the attraction of gravity, as Andrew Knight +showed to be the case with germinating plants. If a succulent shoot +of almost any plant be placed in an inclined position in a glass of +water in the dark, the extremity will, in a few hours, bend upward; +and if the position of the shoot be then reversed, the now downward +bent shoot will reverse its curvature; but if the stolon of a +strawberry, which has no tendency to grow upward, be thus treated, it +will curve downward in the direction of, instead of in opposition to, +the force of gravity. As with the strawberry, so it is generally with +the twining shoots of the Hibbertia dentata, which climbs laterally +from bush to bush; for these shoots, when bent downward, show little +and sometimes no tendency to curve upward. + +Thirdly, climbing plants, like other plants, bend toward the light +by a movement closely analogous to that incurvation which causes +them to revolve. This similarity in the nature of the movement was +well seen when plants were kept in a room, and their first movements +in the morning toward the light and their subsequent revolving +movements were traced on a bell glass. The movement of a revolving +shoot, and in some cases of a tendril, is retarded or accelerated +in traveling from or to the light. In a few instances tendrils bend +in a conspicuous manner toward the dark. Many authors speak as if +the movement of a plant toward the light was as directly the result +of the evaporation or of the oxygenation of the sap in the stem, as +the elongation of a bar of iron from an increase in its temperature. +But, seeing that tendrils are either attracted to or repelled by the +light, it is more probable that their movements are only guided and +stimulated by its action in the same manner as they are guided by the +force of attraction toward the centre of gravity. + +Fourthly, we have in stems, petioles, flower-peduncles and +tendrils the spontaneous revolving movement which depends on no +outward stimulus, but is contingent on the youth of the part and +on its vigorous health, which again, of course, depends on proper +temperature and the other conditions of life. This is, perhaps, the +most interesting of all the movements of climbing plants because it +is continuous. Very many other plants exhibit spontaneous movements, +but they generally occur only once during the life of a plant, as in +the movements of the stamens and pistils, etc., or at intervals of +time, as in the so-called sleep of plants. + +Fifthly, we have in the tendrils, whatever their homological nature +may be, in the petioles and tips of the leaves of leaf-climbers, +in the stem in one case and apparently in the aerial roots of the +vanilla, movements--often rapid movements--from contact with any +body. Extremely slight pressure suffices to cause the movement. These +several organs, after bending from a touch, become straight again, +and again bend when touched. + +Sixthly, and lastly, most tendrils, soon after clasping a support, +but not after a mere temporary curvature, contract spirally. The +stimulus from the act of clasping some object seems to travel slowly +down the whole length of the tendril. Many tendrils, moreover, +ultimately contract spontaneously even if they have caught no object; +but this latter useless movement occurs only after a considerable +lapse of time. + +We have seen how diversified are the movements of climbing plants. +These plants are numerous enough to form a conspicuous feature in +the vegetable kingdom; every one has heard that this is the case in +tropical forests; but even in the thickets of our temperate regions +the number of kinds and of individual plants is considerable, as +will be found by counting them. They belong to many and widely +different orders. To gain some crude idea of their distribution in +the vegetable series, I marked from the lists given by Mohl and Palm +(adding a few myself, and a competent botanist, no doubt, could add +many more) all those families in _Lindley’s Vegetable Kingdom_, +which include plants in any of our several subdivisions of twiners, +leaf-climbers, and tendril-bearers; and these (at least some of each +group) all have the power of spontaneously revolving. Lindley divides +Phanerogamic plants into fifty-nine alliances; of these, no less than +above half, namely, thirty-five, include climbing plants according to +the above definition, hook and root-climbers being excluded. To these +a few Cryptogamic plants must be added which climb by revolving. When +we reflect on this wide serial distribution of plants having this +power, and when we know that in some of the largest, well-defined +orders, such as the Compositæ, Rubiaceæ, Scrophulariaceæ, Liliaceæ, +etc., two or three genera alone, out of the host of genera in each, +have this power, the conclusion is forced on our minds that the +capacity of acquiring the revolving power on which most climbers +depend is inherent though undeveloped in most every plant in the +vegetable kingdom. + + + + + FLOWER COLORATION + --ALEXANDER S. WILSON + + +The Prophet-plant (Arnebia echioides) is a native of Persia and +Arabia, but has been introduced and grows freely in gardens in +England. Its chief interest lies in its variable flowers, which may +fairly rank with those of the changeable Hibiscus and other + + “Plants divine and strange + That every hour their blossoms change.” + +The plant is about two feet in height, and somewhat resembles a +cowslip or an auricula. It belongs to the natural order Boraginaceæ, +and is nearly allied to the lungwort, viper’s-bugloss, borage, and +forget-me-not, all of which exhibit color changes more or less +distinct. The various species of Myosotis, or forget-me-not, are +also called scorpion grasses, from the upper flower-bearing portion +of the stem being curled on itself like a watch-spring. The cluster +of flowers, forming the inflorescence of Arnebia, develops in same +scorpioid fashion. There is a double row of flower buds on the +curled stalk, and as this gradually unwinds pair after pair of the +flowers expand in succession. In shape and color the individual +flowers are not unlike those of the primrose, though rather smaller. +When a flower first opens, five conspicuous jet-black spots are seen +upon the yellow rim of the salver-shaped corolla. If the flower be +examined the following day, we are surprised to discover that the +black spots have vanished as if by magic. The yellow of the corolla +is also much paler, and a little later on presents quite a bleached +and silvery appearance, the petals becoming almost white. No sooner +have the spots disappeared from the first pair of flowers than a +second pair expand, and display their sable marks in bold relief +upon the yellow enamel of their petals. From this time onward the +inflorescence comprises both kinds of flower, those but newly opened +having the five conspicuous spots, and the older ones on which no +spots are visible. From these dark spots--the so-called finger-marks +of Mahomet, Arnebia has received its name--the Prophet-plant. Its +flowers seem bewitched, the change is so pronounced and obvious; a +day or two after unfolding they differ so much from the newly opened +ones beside them, that were they growing on separate plants, we +should at once set them down as belonging to another species. + +This change of color gives rise to another interesting peculiarity. +If Arnebia be examined by daylight, and again in the dim twilight, +the observer is struck by a remarkable circumstance. In broad +daylight, the golden spotted flowers at once arrest the eye, while +their paler companions are hardly observed. The inflorescence owes +by far the greater part of its display to the younger flowers. In +the dusk this is entirely reversed; the conspicuousness of the +inflorescence now depends on the paler flowers, and the others are so +obscured that a second glance is needed before they can be discerned. +The relative brilliancy of the two sets of flowers can also be tested +by gradually retiring from the plant, keeping the eyes still fixed +on the blossoms. At dusk the young flowers are lost sight of much +sooner than the others; by day the older ones first disappear in the +distance. This peculiar transformation imparts to the inflorescence +of Arnebia a faint similitude of the pillar of cloud by day and +of fire by night--that celestial manifestation of sacred story so +closely associated with the native region of this desert flower. + +Here, then, we have one of those phenomena which for the naturalist +possess all the fascination of a mystery. What can be the explanation +of this remarkable change of color, and what advantage does the +flower derive from the sudden disappearance of its spots and the +blanching of its petals? + +With the reader’s permission, we shall now proceed to show why nature +has bestowed on Arnebia what she has denied to the leopard--the +power of changing its spots. Before we can say why any flower +should change its color, we must first know why a flower is colored +at all, and why all flowers are not colored alike. Almost all the +peculiarities of flowers can be explained as having reference to +the visits of insects. The honey is secreted as an inducement, +while the secret and brilliant colors serve to attract the +attention of the honey-gatherers. The researches of the late Charles +Darwin demonstrated the importance of cross-fertilization in the +vegetable kingdom. Very many flowers are quite sterile with their +own pollen; in other cases, although the flower has the capacity of +self-fertilization, the resulting seeds are of very inferior quality +compared with those obtained as a result of cross-fertilization. As +carriers of pollen, then, insects perform an essential service to +plants, and it is in order to secure their services that flowers are +brightly colored. + +For the variety of color observed among flowers there appear to be +two principal reasons. A little reflection will show that, since +flowers are so dependent on insects for the conveyance of their +pollen, it must be to the advantage of each species of plant to +possess flowers distinctively colored and capable of being easily +recognized by honey-seeking insects. A bee does not visit all flowers +indiscriminately; it would be greatly to the flowers’ disadvantage if +it did. In the course of a single journey the bee for the most part +restricts itself to the flowers of one species, and has been known +to visit as many as thirty dead-nettles in succession, passing over +all other flowers. Time is saved by this method, for by keeping to +one kind of flower at a time the insect becomes familiar with its +outs and ins, and the practice thus acquired enables it to overtake +a larger number of blossoms than it could if it did not observe +this rule. This constancy in visiting the same kind of flower is +of great importance to plants, since it ensures that the pollen +will be conveyed to a flower of the same species as that from which +it came. But if all flowers were colored and perfumed alike, the +winged botanist could not identify the species; the pollen would be +constantly transferred to the stigmas of the wrong flowers, where it +would be useless, and so the work of cross-fertilization would be +seriously impeded. + +A second cause contributing to the variety observed among flowers +is the desirability of attracting special kinds of insects. As +we have just seen, an insect does not visit all kinds of flowers +indiscriminately; neither, on the other hand, does a flower attract +indiscriminately all kinds of insects. Not only are injurious and +unprofitable visitors excluded, but the more specialized insects are +in greatest demand. Partiality for particular insects is shown both +by the shapes and coloring of flowers. Open shallow flowers, with +exposed honey accessible to almost all insects, have, as their most +frequent visitors, short-lipped flies and beetles. Many blossoms, +again, have become specially adapted to bees. Their honey is placed +beyond the reach of short-lipped fliers, and requires the slender +proboscis of a bee or butterfly for its extraction. Honeysuckle, +habenaria, plumbago, phlox, and narcissus illustrate a third type, +with flower-tubes so narrow and deep that their nectar is quite +inaccessible even to bees, and is reserved entirely for moths and +butterflies, which possess an extremely long and thin proboscis. +There is a corresponding adaptation in the colors; the gay tints of +the buttercup, poppy, and rose appear to have special attractions +for beetles; bees show a decided preference for blue, and this +color predominates in flowers whose shapes are adapted to their +visits. Deep tubular flowers specialized for Lepidoptera fall into +two divisions, according as they solicit the attentions of diurnal +butterflies or nocturnal moths. Red and purple are the favorite +colors of the former, while nocturnal moths show a preference for +white and pale flowers. Thus the carnation and campion (Lychnis +diurna), which open by day, have dark tints in comparison with +Lychnis respertina, which unfolds its petals toward evening. Almost +scentless by day, this white nocturnal flower diffuses a delicious +fragrance in the twilight. The evening primrose (Ænothera), which, +however, has yellow petals, is another example of this class. But +the most remarkable plant of this type is the night-flowering stock +(Cereus). Its pale blossoms open about seven in the evening, emit +puffs of odor from time to time, and close up again toward midnight; +by morning the flowers are withered. It is impossible to doubt +that we have in this instance a flower specialized for the visits +of nocturnal moths. The reason why nocturnal flowers, like the +honeysuckle and evening campion, have pale-colored petals is not +far to seek. These pale hues can be more easily distinguished at +night than the red or purple of Dianthus or Githago. Among lilies +both diurnal and nocturnal flowers occur, and clearly indicate by +their colors to which section of the Lepidoptera they are adapted. +The Turk’s-cap lily, with its perianth of fiery scarlet, is a +characteristic example of a diurnal flower adapted to butterflies +which wander abroad in daytime. On the other hand, Lilium Martagon, +an L. candidum, with their white bells, are nocturnal lilies +fertilized by night-loving moths. + +Two flowers, unlike in their coloring, can hardly be equally +attractive to the same visitors, even if they grow together on the +same plant, as in the case of Arnebia; the presumption, therefore, is +that its spotted and pale blossoms are adapted for different insects. +Moreover, the stronger colors of the younger flowers correspond with +those of the day-blooming class, while the paler tints of those in +the second stage will render them more attractive to nocturnal moths; +and this view is strongly confirmed by the fact that night-blooming +flowers are never variegated, but have their petals uniformly devoid +of markings. By night the dark spots tend, in this instance, to +conceal the blossoms so much that, if these are to be converted into +nocturnal flowers, the removal of the spots is absolutely necessary. +We may therefore conclude with tolerable certainty that the flowers +of Arnebia in their first stage are adapted to bees and diurnal +Lepidoptera, while in their second condition they array themselves in +paler hues to attract nocturnal moths. + +By the color change, in this instance, a diurnal is converted into +a nocturnal flower, and one advantage thereby gained is that the +blossoms appeal to a larger class of fertilizing agents. The more +restricted the circle of visitors on which any plant depends the +greater the risk, in the event of insects being scarce, of its +flowers remaining unfertilized and perishing. Here it would seem that +Nature proceeds on the same principle as a fisherman in changing +his bait. Like some other variable blossoms, Arnebia is in the +advantageous position of carrying two strings to her bow. + + + + + QUEER FLOWERS + --GRANT ALLEN + + +If Baron Munchausen had ever in the course of his travels come across +a single flower one standard British yard in diameter, fifteen +pounds avoirdupois in weight, and forming a cup big enough to hold +six quarts of water in its central hollow, it is not improbable that +the learned baron’s veracious account of the new plant might have +been met with the same polite incredulity which his other adventures +shared with those of Bruce, Stanley, Mendez Pinto, and Du Chaillu. +Nevertheless, a big blossom of this enormous size has been well known +to botanists ever since the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. When +Sir Stamford Raffles was taking care of Sumatra during our temporary +annexation, he happened one day to light upon a gigantic parasite, +which grew on the stem of a prostrate creeper in the densest part +of the tropical jungle. It measured nine feet round and three feet +across: it had five large petals with a central basin; and it was +mottled red in hue, being, in fact, in color and texture surprisingly +suggestive of raw beefsteak. One flower was open when Sir Stamford +came upon it: the other was in the bud, and looked in that state +extremely like a very big red cabbage. Specimens of this surprising +find were at once forwarded to England, and it was at last duly +labeled after the names of its two discoverers as Rafflesia Arnoldi. + +The mere size of this mammoth among flowers would in itself naturally +suffice to give it a distinct claim to respectful attention; but +Rafflesia possesses many other sterling qualities far more calculated +than simple bigness to endear it to a large and varied circle of +insect acquaintances. The oddest thing about it, indeed, is the fact +that it is a deliberately deceptive and alluring blossom. As soon +as it was first discovered, Dr. Arnold noticed that it possessed a +very curious carrion smell, exactly like that of putrefying meat. He +also observed that this smell attracted flies in large numbers by +false pretences to settle in the centre of the cup. But it is only +of late years that the real significance and connection of these +curious facts has come to be perceived. We now know that Rafflesia is +a flower which wickedly and feloniously lays itself out to deceive +the confiding meat-flies and to starve their helpless infants in the +midst of apparent plenty. The majority of legitimate flowers (if I +may be allowed the expression) get themselves decently fertilized +by bees and butterflies, who may be considered as representing the +regular trade, and who carry the fecundating pollen on their heads +and proboscises from one blossom to another, while engaged in their +usual business of gathering honey every day from every opening +flower. But Rafflesia, on the contrary, has positively acquired a +fallacious external resemblance to raw meat, and a decidedly high +flavor, on purpose to take in the too trustful Sumatran flies. +When a fly sights and scents one, he (or rather she) proceeds at +once to settle in the cup, and there lay a number of eggs in what +it naturally regards as a very fine decaying carcass. Then, having +dusted itself over in the process with plenty of pollen from this +first flower, it flies away confidingly to the next promising bud, +in search both of food for itself and of a fitting nursery for +its future little ones. In doing so, it of course fertilizes all +the blossoms that it visits, one after another, by dusting them +successively with each other’s pollen. When the young grubs are +hatched out, however, they discover the base deception all too late, +and perish miserably in their fallacious bed, the hapless victims of +misplaced parental confidence. Even as Zeuxis deceived the very birds +with his painted grapes, so Rafflesia deceives the flies themselves +by its ingenious mimicry of a putrid beefsteak. In the fierce +competition of tropical life, it has found out by simple experience +that dishonesty is the best policy. + +The general principle which this strange flower illustrates in so +striking a fashion is just this. Most common flowers have laid +themselves out to attract bees, and so a bee flower forms our human +ideal of central typical blossom: it looks, in short, we think, as +a flower ought to look. But there are some originally minded and +eccentric plants which have struck out a line for themselves, and +taken to attracting sundry casual flies, wasps, midges, beetles, +snails, or even birds, which take the place of bees as their regular +fertilizers; and it is these Bohemians of the vegetable world that +make up what we all consider as the queerest and most singular +of all flowers. They adapt their appearance and structure to the +particular tastes and habits of their chosen guests. + +Most of the flowers specially affected by carrion flies have a lurid +red color and a distinct smell of bad meat. Few of them, however, +are quite so cruel in their habits as Rafflesia. For the most part, +they attract the insects by their appearance and odor, but reward +their services with a little honey and other allurements. This is +the case with the curious English fly-orchid, whose dull purple lip +is covered with tiny drops of nectar, licked off by the fertilizing +flies. The very malodorous carrion-flowers (or stapelias) are visited +by blue-bottles and flesh-flies, while an allied form actually sets a +trap for the fly’s proboscis, which catches the insect by its hairs, +and compels him to give a sharp pull in order to free himself: this +pull dislodges the pollen, and so secures cross-fertilization. The +Alpine butterwort sets a somewhat similar gin so vigorously that when +a weak fly is caught in it he can not disengage himself, and there +perishes wretchedly, like a hawk in a keeper’s trap. + +The south European birthwort, a very lurid-looking and fly-enticing +flower, has a sort of cornucopia-shaped tube, lined with long hairs, +which all point inward, and so allow small midges to creep down +readily enough, after the fashion of an eel-buck or lobster-pot. “Sed +revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras”--to get out again is +the great difficulty. Try as they will, the little prisoners can not +crawl back upward against the downward-pointing hairs. Accordingly, +they are forced by circumstances over which they have no control to +walk aimlessly up and down their prison yard, fertilizing the little +knobby surface of the seed-vessel from another flower. But as soon +as the seeds are all impregnated, the stamens begin to shed their +pollen, and dust over the gnats with copious powder. Then the hairs +all wither up, and the gnats, released from their lobster-pot prison, +fly away once more on the same fool’s errand. Before doing so, +however, they make a good meal off the pollen that covers the floor, +though they still carry away a great many grains on their own wings +and bodies. + +A very similar but much larger fly-cage is set by our common wild +arum, or cuckoo-pint. This familiar big spring flower exhales a +disagreeable fleshy odor, which, by its meat-like flavor, attracts a +tiny midge with beautiful iridescent wings and a very poetical name, +Psychoda. As in most other cases where flies are specially invited, +the color of the cuckoo-pint is usually a dull and somewhat livid +purple. A palisade of hairs closes the neck of the funnel-shaped +blossom, and repeats the lobster-pot tactics of the entirely +unconnected south European birthwort. The little flies, entering by +this narrow and stockaded door, fertilize the future red berries +with pollen brought from their last prison, and are then rewarded +for their pains by a tiny drop of honey, which slowly oozes from the +middle of each embryo fruitlet as soon as it is duly impregnated. +Afterward, the pollen is shed upon their backs by the bursting of the +pollen-bag; the hairs wither up, and open the previously barricaded +exit, and the midges issue forth in search of a new prison and a +second drop of honey. + +From plants that imprison insects to plants that devour insects alive +is a natural transition. The giant who keeps a dungeon is first +cousin to the ogre who swallows down his captives entire. And yet the +subject is really too serious a one for jesting; there is something +too awful and appalling in this contest of the unconscious and +insentient with the living and feeling, of a lower vegetative form +of life with a higher animated form, that it always makes me shudder +slightly to think of it. + +On most English peaty patches there grows a little reddish-leaved +odd-looking plant known as sundew. It is but an inconspicuous small +weed, and yet literary and scientific honors have been heaped upon +its head to an extent almost unknown in the case of any other member +of the British floral commonwealth. Mr. Swinburne has addressed an +ode to it, and Mr. Darwin has written a learned book about it. Its +portrait has been sketched by innumerable artists, and its biography +narrated by innumerable authors. And all this attention has been +showered upon it, not because it is beautiful, or good, or modest, +or retiring, but simply and solely because it is atrociously and +deliberately wicked. Sundew, in fact, is the best known and most +easily accessible of the carnivorous and insectivorous plants. + +The leaf of the sundew is round and flat, and it is covered by a +number of small red glands, which act as the attractive advertisement +to the misguided midges. Their knobby ends are covered with a +glutinous secretion, which glistens like honey in the sunlight, and +so gains for the plant its common English name. But the moment a +hapless fly, attracted by hopes of meat or nectar, settles quietly in +its midst, on hospitable thoughts intent, the viscid liquid holds him +tight immediately, and clogs his legs and wings, so that he is snared +exactly as a peregrine is snared with bird-lime. Then the leaf, with +all its “red-lipped mouths,” closes over him slowly but surely, +and crushes him by folding its edges inward gradually toward the +centre. The fly often lingers long with ineffectual struggles, while +the cruel crawling leaf pours forth a digestive fluid--a vegetable +gastric juice, as it were--and dissolves him alive piecemeal in its +hundred clutching suckers. + +Our little English insectivorous plants, however (we have at least +five or six such species in our own islands), are mere clumsy +bunglers compared to the great and highly developed insect-eaters of +the tropics, which stand to them in somewhat the same relation as the +Bengal tiger stands to the British wildcat or the skulking weasel. +The Indian pitcher-plants or Nepenthes bear big pitchers of very +classical shapes, closed in the early state with a lid, which lifts +itself and opens the pitcher as soon as the plant has fully completed +its insecticidal arrangements. The details of the trap vary somewhat +in the different species, but as a whole the _modus operandi_ of the +plant is somewhat after this atrocious fashion. The pitcher contains +a quantity of liquid, that of the sort appropriately known as the +Rajah holding as much as a quart; and the insect, attracted in most +cases by some bright color, crawls down the sticky side, quaffs the +unkind Nepenthe, and forgets his troubles forthwith in the vat of +oblivion prepared for him beneath by the delusive vase. A slimy Lethe +flows over his dissolving corse, and the relentless pitcher-plant +sucks his juices to supply his own fibres with the necessary +nitrogenous materials. + +The California pitcher-plant, or Darlingtonia, is a member of a +totally distinct family, which has independently hit upon the same +device in the Western world as the Indian Nepenthes in the Eastern +Hemisphere. The pitcher in this case, though differently produced, +is hooded and lidded like its Oriental analogue; but the inside of +the hood is furnished with short hairs, all pointing inward, and +legibly inscribed (to the botanical eye) with the appropriate motto: +“Vestigia nulla retrorsum.” The whole arrangement is colored dingy +orange, so as to attract the attention of flies; and it contains a +viscid digestive fluid in which the flies are first drowned and then +slowly melted and assimilated. The pitchers are often found half full +of dead and decaying assorted insects. + +There are a great many more of these highly developed insect-eaters, +such as the Guiana heliamphora (more classical shapes), the +Australian cephalotus, and the American side-saddle flowers, and +they all without exception grow in very wet and boggy places, like +the English sundews, butterworts, and bladderworts. The reason so +many marsh plants have taken to these strange insect-eating habits +is simply that their roots are often badly supplied with manure +or ammonia in any form; and, as no plant can get on without these +necessaries of life (in the strictest sense), only those marshy weeds +have any chance of surviving which can make up in one way or another +for the native deficiencies of their situation. The sundews show us, +as it were, the first stage in the acquisition of these murderous +habits; the pitcher-plants are the abandoned ruffians which have +survived among all their competitors in virtue of their exceptional +ruthlessness and deceptive coloration. I ought to add that in all +cases the pitchers are not flowers, but highly modified and altered +leaves, though in many instances they are quite as beautifully +colored as the largest and handsomest exotic orchids. + +The principle of Venus’s Fly-trap is somewhat different, though its +practice is equally nefarious. This curious marsh-plant, instead of +setting hocussed bowls of liquid for its victims, like a Florentine +of the Fourteenth Century, lays a regular gin or snare for them on +the same plan as a common snapping rat-trap. The end of the leaf +is divided into two folding halves by the midrib, and on each half +are three or five highly sensitive hairs. The moment one of these +hairs is touched by a fly, the two halves come together, inclosing +the luckless insect between them. As if on purpose to complete the +resemblance to a rat-trap, too, the edges of the leaf are formed of +prickly jagged teeth, which fit in between one another when the gin +shuts, and so effectually cut off the insect’s retreat. The plant +then sucks up the juices of the fly; and as soon as it has fully +digested them, the leaf opens automatically once more, and resets +the trap for another victim. It is an interesting fact that this +remarkable insectivore appears to be still a new and struggling +species, or else an old type on the very point of extinction, +for it is only found in a few bogs over a very small area in the +neighborhood of Wilmington, South California. + + + + + ATHENA IN THE EARTH + --JOHN RUSKIN + + +The spirit in the plant--that is to say, its power of gathering dead +matter out of the wreck round it, and shaping it into its own chosen +shape--is, of course, strongest at the moment of its flowering, for +it then not only gathers, but forms, with the greatest energy. + +And where this life is in it at full power, its form becomes invested +with aspects that are chiefly delightful to our own human passions; +namely, first, with the loveliest outlines of shape; and, secondly, +with the most brilliant phases of the primary colors, blue, yellow, +and red or white, the unison of all; and, to make it all more +strange, this time of peculiar and perfect glory is associated with +relations of the plants or blossoms to each other, correspondent to +the joy of love in human creatures, and having the same object in the +continuance of the race. Only, with respect to plants, as animals, we +are wrong in speaking as if the object of this strong life were only +the bequeathing of itself. The flower is the end or proper object +of the seed, not the seed of the flower. The reason for seeds is +that flowers may be; not the reason of flowers that seeds may be. +The flower itself is the creature which the spirit makes; only, in +connection with its perfectness, is placed the giving birth to its +successor. + +The main fact, then, about a flower is that it is the part of the +plant’s form developed at the moment of its intensest life: and this +inner rapture is usually marked externally for us by the flush of one +or more of the primary colors. What the character of the flower shall +be depends entirely upon the portion of the plant into which this +rapture of spirit has been put. Sometimes the life is put into its +outer sheath, and then the outer sheath becomes white and pure, and +full of strength and grace; sometimes the life is put into the common +leaves, just under the blossom, and they become scarlet or purple; +sometimes the life is put into the stalks of the flower, and they +flush blue; sometimes in its outer inclosure or calyx; mostly into +its inner cup; but, in all cases, the presence of the strongest life +is asserted by characters in which the human sight takes pleasure, +and which seemed prepared with distinct reference to us, or rather, +bear, in being delightful, evidence of having been produced by the +power of the same spirit as our own. + +With the early serpent-worship there was associated another--that +of the groves--of which you will find the evidence exhaustively +collected in Mr. Fergusson’s work. This tree-worship may have taken +a dark form when associated with the Draconian one; or opposed, +as in Judea, to a purer faith; but in itself, I believe, it was +always healthy, and though it retains little definite hieroglyphic +power in subsequent religion, it becomes, instead of symbolic, real; +the flowers and trees are themselves beheld and beloved with a +half-worshiping delight, which is always noble and healthful. + +And it is among the most notable indications of the volition of the +animating power that we find the ethical signs of good and evil set +on these also, as well as upon animals; the venom of the serpent, +and in some respects its image also, being associated even with +the passionless growth of the leaf out of the ground; while the +distinctions of species seem appointed with more definite ethical +address to the intelligence of man as their material products become +more useful to him. + +I can easily show this and, at the same time, make clear the relation +to other plants of the flowers which especially belong to Athena, +by examining the natural myths in the groups of the plants which +would be used at any country dinner over which Athena would, in her +simplest household authority, cheerfully rule, here, in England. +Suppose Horace’s favorite dish of beans with the bacon; potatoes; +some savory stuffing of onions and herbs with the meat; celery, and +a radish or two, with the cheese; nuts and apples for dessert, and +brown bread. The beans are, from earliest time, the most important +and interesting of the seeds of the great tribe of plants from which +came the Latin and French name for all kitchen vegetables--things +that are gathered with the hand--podded seeds that can not be reaped, +or beaten, or shaken down, but must be gathered green. “Leguminous” +plants, all of them having flowers like butterflies, seeds in +(frequently pendent) pods--“lætum silique quassante legumen”--smooth +and tender leaves, divided into many minor ones--strange adjuncts of +tendril, for climbing (and sometimes of thorn)--exquisitely sweet, +yet pure, scents of blossom, and almost always harmless, if not +serviceable seeds. It is of all tribes of plants the most definite; +its blossoms being entirely limited in their parts, and not passing +into other forms. It is also the most usefully extended in range +and scale; familiar in the height of the forest--acacia, laburnum, +Judas-tree; familiar in the sown field--bean and vetch and pea; +familiar in the pasture--in every form of clustered clover and sweet +trefoil tracery; the most entirely serviceable and human of all +orders of plants. + +Next, in the potato, we have the scarcely innocent underground stem +of one of a tribe set aside for evil;[6] having the deadly nightshade +for its queen, and including the henbane, the witch’s mandrake, and +the worst natural curse of modern civilization--tobacco. And the +strange thing about this tribe is that, though thus set aside for +evil, they are not a group distinctly separate from those that are +happier in function. There is nothing in other tribes of plants +like the bean blossom; but there is another family with forms and +structure closely connected with this venomous one. Examine the +purple and yellow bloom of the common hedge nightshade; you will +find it constructed exactly like some of the forms of the cyclamen; +and, getting this clew, you will find at last the whole poisonous and +terrible group to be--sisters of the primulas! + +The nightshades are, in fact, primroses with a curse upon them; and +a sign set in their petals by which the deadly and condemned flowers +may always be known from the innocent ones--that the stamens of the +nightshades are between the lobes, and of the primulas, opposite the +lobes of the corolla. + +Next, side by side, in the celery and radish, you have the two great +groups of umbelled and cruciferous plants; alike in conditions of +rank among herbs: both flowering in clusters; but the umbelled +group, flat, the crucifers, in spires: both of them mean and poor in +blossom, and losing what beauty they have by too close crowding; both +of them having the most curious influence on human character in the +temperate zones of the earth, from the days of the parsley crown and +hemlock drink, and mocked Euripidean chervil, until now: but chiefly +among the northern nations, being especially plants that are of some +humble beauty, and (the crucifers) of endless use, when they are +chosen and cultivated; but that run to wild waste, and are signs of +neglected ground, in their rank or ragged leaves, and meagre stalks, +and pursed or podded seed-clusters. Capable, even under cultivation, +of no perfect beauty, though reaching some subdued delightfulness in +the lady’s smock and the wall-flower; for the most part, they have +every floral quality meanly, and in vain--they are white, without +purity; golden, without preciousness; redundant, without richness; +divided, without fineness; massive, without strength; and slender, +without grace. Yet think over that useful vulgarity of theirs; and of +the relations of German and English peasant character to its food of +kraut and cabbage (as of Arab character to its food of palm-fruit), +and you will begin to feel what purposes of the forming spirit are in +these distinctions of species. + +Next we take the nuts and apples--the nuts representing one of the +groups of catkined trees whose blossoms are only tufts and dust; and +the other, the rose tribe, in which fruit and flower alike have been +the types, to the highest races of men, of all passionate temptation +or pure delight, from the coveting of Eve to the crowning of the +Madonna above the + + “Rosa sempiterna + Che si dilata, rigrada, e ridole + Odor di lode al Sol.” + +We have now no time for these; we must go on to the humblest group of +all, yet the most wonderful, that of the grass, which has given us +our bread; and from that we will go back to the herbs. + +The vast family of plants which, under rain, make the earth green for +man; and, under sunshine, give him bread; and, in their springing +in the early year, mixed with their native flowers, have given us +(far more than the new leaves of trees) the thought and word of +“spring,” divide themselves broadly into three great groups--the +grasses, sedges, and rushes. The grasses are essentially a clothing +for healthy and pure ground, watered by occasional rain, but in +itself dry and fit for all cultivated pasture and corn. They are +distinctively plants with round and pointed stems, which have long, +green, flexible leaves, and heads of seed independently emerging +from them. The sedges are essentially the clothing of waste and +more or less poor or uncultivable soils, coarse in their structure, +frequently triangular in stem--hence called “acute” by Virgil--and +with their heads of seed not extricated from their leaves. Now, in +both the sedges and grasses, the blossom has a common structure, +though undeveloped in the sedges, but composed always of groups of +double husks, which have mostly a spinous process in the centre, +sometimes projecting into a long awn or beard; this central process +being characteristic also of the ordinary leaves of mosses, as if a +moss were a kind of ear of corn made permanently green on the ground, +and with a new and distinct fructification. But the rushes differ +wholly from the sedge and grass in their blossom structure. It is not +a dual cluster, but a twice threefold one, so far separate from the +grasses and so closely connected with a higher order of plants that +I think you will find it convenient to group the rushes at once with +that higher order, to which, if you will for the present let me give +the general name of Drosidæ, or dew-plants, it will enable me to say +what I have to say of them much more shortly and clearly. + +These Drosidæ, then, are plants delighting in interrupted +moisture--moisture which comes either partially or at certain +seasons--into dry ground. They are not water-plants; but the signs +of water resting among dry places. Many of the true water-plants +have triple blossoms, with a small triple calyx holding them; in the +Drosidæ, the floral spirit passes into the calyx also, and the entire +flower becomes a six-rayed star, bursting out of the stem laterally, +as if it were the first of flowers, and had made its way to the light +by force through the unwilling green. They are often required to +retain moisture or nourishment for the future blossom through long +times of drought; and this they do in bulbs under ground, of which +some become a rude and simple, but most wholesome, food for man. + +So now, observe, you are to divide the whole family of the +herbs of the field into three great groups--Drosidæ, Carices, +Gramineæ--dew-plants, sedges, and grasses. Then the Drosidæ are +divided into five great orders--lilies, asphodels, amaryllids, irids, +and rushes. No tribes of flowers have had so great, so varied, or so +healthy an influence on man as this great group of Drosidæ, depending +not so much on the whiteness of some of their blossoms, or the +radiance of others, as on the strength and delicacy of the substance +of their petals; enabling them to take forms of faultless elastic +curvature, either in cups, as the crocus, or expanding bells, as +the true lily, or heath-like bells, as the hyacinth, or bright and +perfect stars, like the star of Bethlehem, or, when they are affected +by the strange reflex of the serpent nature which forms the labiate +group of all flowers, closing into forms of exquisitely fantastic +symmetry in the gladiolus. Put by their side their Nereid sisters, +the water-lilies, and you have in them the origin of the loveliest +forms of ornamental design and the most powerful floral myths yet +recognized among human spirits, born by the streams of the Ganges, +Nile, Arno, and Avon. + +For consider a little what each of those five tribes has been to the +spirit of man. First, in their nobleness: the lilies gave the lily of +the Annunciation; the asphodels, the flower of the Elysian fields; +the irids, the fleur-de-lys of chivalry; and the amaryllids, Christ’s +lily of the field; while the rush, trodden always underfoot, became +the emblem of humility. Then take each of the tribes, and consider +the extent of their lower influence. Perdita’s, “The crown imperial, +lilies of all kinds,” are the first tribe; which giving the type of +perfect purity in the Madonna’s lily, have, by their lovely form, +influenced the entire decorative design of Italian sacred art; while +ornament of war was continually enriched by the curves of the triple +petals of the Florentine “giglio” and French fleur-de-lys; so that it +is impossible to count their influence for good in the Middle Ages, +partly as a symbol of womanly character and partly of the utmost +brightness and refinement of chivalry in the city which was the +flower of cities. + +Afterward the group of the turban-lilies, or tulips, did some +mischief (their special stains having made them the favorite caprice +of florists); but they may be pardoned all such guilt for the +pleasure they have given in cottage-gardens, and are yet to give, +when lowly life may again be possible among us; and the crimson bars +of the tulips in their trim beds, with their likeness in crimson bars +of morning above them, and its dew glittering heavy, globed in their +glossy cups, may be loved better than the gray nettles of the ash +heap, under gray sky, unveined by vermilion or by gold. + +The next great group of the asphodels divides itself also into two +principal families: one, in which the flowers are like stars, and +clustered characteristically in balls, though opening sometimes into +looser heads; and the other, in which the flowers are in long bells, +opening suddenly at the lips, and clustered in spires on a long stem, +or drooping from it when bent by their weight. + +The star group of the squills, garlics, and onions has always +caused me great wonder. I can not understand why its beauty and +serviceableness should have been associated with the rank scent which +has been really among the most powerful means of degrading peasant +life, and separating it from that of the higher classes. + +The belled group of the hyacinth and convallaria is as delicate as +the other is coarse; the unspeakable azure light along the ground of +the wood hyacinth in English spring; the grape hyacinth, which is in +south France, as if a cluster of grapes and a hive of honey had been +distilled and compressed together into one small boss of celled and +beaded blue; the lilies of the valley everywhere, in each sweet and +wild recess of rocky land--count the influences of these on childish +and innocent life; then measure the mythic power of the hyacinth and +asphodel as connected with Greek thoughts of immortality; finally +take their useful and nourishing power in ancient and modern peasant +life, and it will be strange if you do not feel what fixed relation +exists between the agency of the creating spirit in these and in us +who live by them. + +It is impossible to bring into any tenable compass for our present +purpose even hints of the human influence of the amaryllids and +irids--only note this generally, that while these in northern +countries share with the Primulas the fields of spring, it seems that +in Greece the Primulaceæ are not an extended tribe, while the crocus, +narcissus, and Amaryllis lutea, the “lily of the field” (I suspect +also that the flower whose name we translate “violet” was in truth +an iris), represented to the Greek the first coming of the breath +of life on the renewed herbage; and became in his thoughts the true +embroidery of the saffron robe of Athena. Later in the year, the +dianthus (which, though belonging to an entirely different race of +plants, has yet a strange look of having been made out of the grasses +by turning the sheath-membrane at the root of their leaves into a +flower) seems to scatter, in multitudinous families, its crimson +stars far and wide. But the golden lily and crocus, together with the +asphodel, retain always the old Greek’s fondest thoughts--they are +only “golden” flowers that are to burn on the trees and float on the +streams of paradise. + +I have but one tribe of plants more to note at our country feast--the +savory herbs; but must go a little out of my way to come at them +rightly. All flowers whose petals are fastened together, and most of +those whose petals are loose, are best thought of first as a kind of +cup or tube opening at the mouth. Sometimes the opening is gradual, +as in the convolvulus or campanula; oftener there is a distinct +change of direction between the tube and expanding lip, as in the +primrose; or even a contraction under the lip, making the tube into a +narrow-necked phial or vase, as in the heaths, but the general idea +of a tube expanding into a quatrefoil, cinquefoil, or sixfoil, will +embrace most of the forms. + +Now it is easy to conceive that flowers of this kind, growing in +close clusters, may, in process of time, have extended their outside +petals rather than the interior ones (as the outer flowers of the +clusters of many umbellifers actually do), and thus elongated and +variously distorted forms have established themselves; then if the +stalk is attached to the side instead of the base of the tube, its +base becomes a spur, and thus all the grotesque forms of the mints, +violets, and larkspurs gradually might be composed. But, however this +may be, there is one great tribe of plants separate from the rest, +and of which the influence seems shed upon the rest in different +degrees: and these would give the impression not so much of having +been developed by change as of being stamped with a character of +their own, more or less serpentine or dragon-like. And I think +you will find it convenient to call these generally Draconidæ; +disregarding their present ugly botanical name, which I do not care +even to write once--you may take for their principal types the +foxglove, snap-dragon, and calceolaria; and you will find they all +agree in a tendency to decorate themselves by spots, and with bosses +or swollen places in their leaves, as if they had been touched by +poison. The spot of the foxglove is especially strange, because it +draws the color out of the tissue all round it, as if it had been +stung, and as if the central color was really an inflamed spot with +paleness round. Then also they carry to its extreme the decoration +by bulging or pouting the petal; often beautifully used by other +flowers in a minor degree, like the beating out of bosses in hollow +silver, as in the kalmia, beating out apparently in each petal by the +stamens instead of a hammer; or the borage, pouting inward; but the +snap-dragons and calceolarias carry it to its extreme. + +Then the spirit of these Draconidæ seems to pass more or less into +other flowers, whose forms are properly pure vases; but it affects +some of them slightly, others not at all. It never strongly affects +the heaths; never once the roses; but it enters like an evil spirit +into the buttercup, and turns it into a larkspur, with a black, +spotted, grotesque centre, and a strange, broken blue, gorgeous and +intense; yet impure, glittering on the surface as if it were strewn +with broken glass, and stained or darkened irregularly into red. And +then at last the serpent-charm changes the ranunculus into monkshood, +and makes it poisonous. It enters into the forget-me-not, and the +star of heavenly turquoise is corrupted into the viper’s bugloss, +darkened with the same strange red as the larkspur, and fretted into +a fringe of thorn; it enters, together with a strange insect-spirit, +into the asphodels, and (though with a greater interval between the +groups), they change into spotted orchideæ; it touches the poppy, +it becomes a fumaria; the iris, and it pouts into a gladiolus; the +lily, and it checkers itself into a snake’s head, and secretes in the +deep of its bell drops not of venom indeed, but honey-dew, as if it +were a healing serpent. For there is an Æsculapian as well as an evil +serpentry among the Draconidæ, and the fairest of them, “erba della +Madonna” of Venice (Linaria Cymbalaria), descends from the ruins +it delights in to the herbage at their feet, and touches it; and +behold, instantly, a vast group of herbs for healing--all draconid +in form--spotted and crested, and from their lip-like corollas +named “labitæ”; full of various balm and warm strength for healing, +yet all of them without splendid honor or perfect beauty, “ground +ivies,” richest when crushed under the foot; the best sweetness and +gentle brightness of the robes of the field--thyme, and marjoram, and +euphrasy. + +And observe, again and again, with respect to all these divisions +and powers of plants; it does not matter in the least by what +concurrences of circumstance or necessity they may gradually have +been developed: the concurrence of circumstance is itself the supreme +and inexplicable fact. We always come at last to a formative cause +which directs the circumstance and mode of meeting it. If you ask +an ordinary botanist the reason of the form of a leaf, he will tell +you it is a “developed tubercle,” and that its ultimate form “is +owing to the directions of its vascular threads.” But what directs +its vascular threads? “They are seeking for something they want,” +he will probably answer. What made them want that? What made them +seek for it thus? Seek for it, in five fibres or in three? Seek for +it, in serration, or in sweeping curves? Seek for it, in servile +tendrils, or impetuous spray? Seek for it, in woolen wrinkles rough +with stings, or in glossy surfaces, green with pure strength, and +winterless delight? + +There is no answer. But the sum of all is, that over the entire +surface of the earth and its waters, as influenced by the power of +the air under solar light, there is developed a series of changing +forms, in clouds, plants, and animals, all of which have reference +in their action, or nature, to the human intelligence that perceives +them; and on which, in their aspects of horror and beauty, and their +qualities of good and evil, there is engraved a series of myths, or +words of the forming power, which, according to the true passion +and energy of the human race, they have been enabled to read into +religion. + + + + + PROGRESS OF CULTIVATION + --ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE + + +In spite of the obscurity of the beginnings of cultivation in +each region, it is certain that they occurred at very different +periods. One of the most ancient examples of cultivated plants is +in a drawing representing figs, found in Egypt in the pyramid of +Gizeh. The epoch of the construction of this monument is uncertain. +Authors have assigned a date varying between fifteen hundred and +four thousand two hundred years before the Christian era. Supposing +it to be two thousand years, its actual age would be four thousand +years. Now, the construction of the pyramids could only have been +the work of a numerous, organized people, possessing a certain +degree of civilization, and consequently an established agriculture, +dating from some centuries back at least. In China, two thousand +seven hundred years before Christ, the Emperor Chenming instituted +the ceremony at which every year five species of useful plants are +sown--rice, sweet potato, wheat, and two kinds of millet. These +plants must have been cultivated for some time in certain localities +before they attracted the emperor’s attention to such a degree. +Agriculture appears then to be as ancient in China as in Egypt. The +constant relations between Egypt and Mesopotamia lead us to suppose +that an almost contemporaneous cultivation existed in the valleys of +the Euphrates and the Nile. And it may have been equally early in +India and in the Malay Archipelago. The history of the Dravidian and +Malay peoples does not reach far back, and is sufficiently obscure, +but there is no reason to believe that cultivation has not been known +among them for a very long time, particularly along the banks of the +rivers. + +[Illustration: Common Cereals and Food Plants + +1, Lentil; 2, Flax; 3, Barley; 4, Millet; 5, Rye] + +The ancient Egyptians and the Phœnicians propagated many plants +in the region of the Mediterranean, and the Aryan nations, whose +migrations toward Europe began about 2500, or at least 2000 years B. +C., carried with them several species already cultivated in Western +Asia. We shall see, in studying the history of several species, +that some plants were probably cultivated in Europe and in the north +of Africa prior to the Aryan migration. This is shown by names in +languages more ancient than the Aryan tongues; for instance, Finn, +Basque, Berber, and the speech of the Guanchos of the Canary Isles. +However, the remains called kitchen-middens, of ancient Danish +dwellings, have hitherto furnished no proof of cultivation or any +indication of the possession of metal. The Scandinavians of that +period lived principally by fishing and hunting, and perhaps eked +out their subsistence by indigenous plants, such as the cabbage, +the nature of which does not admit any remnant of traces in the +dung-heaps and rubbish, and which, moreover, did not require +cultivation. The absence of metals does not in these northern +countries argue a greater antiquity than the age of Pericles, or +even the palmy days of the Roman Republic. Later, when bronze was +known in Sweden--a region far removed from the then civilized +countries--agriculture had at length been introduced. Among the +remains of that epoch was found a carving of a cart drawn by two oxen +and driven by a man. + +The ancient inhabitants of Eastern Switzerland, at a time when they +possessed instruments of polished stone and no metals, cultivated +several plants, of which some were of Asiatic origin. Heer has shown +in his admirable work on the lake-dwellings that the inhabitants had +intercourse with the countries south of the Alps. They may also have +received plants cultivated by the Ibernians, who occupied Gaul before +the Kelts. At the period when the lake-dwellers of Switzerland and +Savoy possessed bronze, their agriculture was more varied. It seems +that the lake-dwellers of Italy, when in possession of this metal, +cultivated fewer species than those of Savoy, and this may be due +either to a greater antiquity, or to local circumstances. The remains +of the lake-dwellers of Laybach and of the Mondsee in Austria prove +likewise a completely primitive agriculture; no cereals have been +found at Laybach, and but a single grain of wheat at the Mondsee. +The backward condition of agriculture in this eastern part of Europe +is contrary to the hypothesis, based on a few words used by ancient +historians, that the Aryans sojourned first in the region of the +Danube, and that Thrace was civilized before Greece. In spite of this +example, agriculture seems in general to have been more ancient in +the temperate parts of Europe than we should be inclined to believe +from the Greeks, who were disposed, like certain modern writers, to +attribute the origin of all progress to their own nation. + +In America, agriculture is perhaps not quite so ancient as in Asia +and Egypt, if we are to judge from the civilization of Mexico and +Peru, which does not date even from the first centuries of the +Christian era. However, the widespread cultivation of certain plants, +such as maize, tobacco, and the sweet potato, argues a considerable +antiquity, perhaps two thousand years or thereabout. History is at +fault in this matter, and we can only hope to be enlightened by the +discoveries of archæology and geology. + +The greater number of ancient historians have confused the fact of +a cultivation of a species in a country with that of its previous +existence there in a wild state. It has been commonly asserted, even +in our own day, that a species cultivated in America or China is a +native of America or China. A no less common error is the belief +that a species comes originally from a given country because it has +come to us from thence, and not direct from the place in which it is +really indigenous. Thus the Greeks and Romans called the peach the +Persian apple, because they had seen it cultivated in Persia, where +it probably did not grow wild. It was a native of China. They called +the pomegranate, which had spread gradually from garden to garden +from Persia to Mauritania, the apple of Carthage (Malum Punicum). +Very ancient authors, such as Herodotus and Berosus, are yet more +liable to error, in spite of their desire to be accurate. + +Agriculture came originally, at least so far as the principal species +are concerned, from three great regions, in which certain plants +grew, regions which had no communication with each other. These are: +China, the southwest of Asia (with Egypt), and intertropical America. +I do not mean to say that in Europe, in Africa, and elsewhere savage +tribes may not have cultivated a few species locally, at an early +epoch, as an addition to the resources of hunting and fishing; but +the greater civilizations based upon agriculture began in the three +regions I have indicated. It is worthy of note that in the Old World +agricultural communities established themselves along the banks of +the rivers, whereas in America they dwelt on the highlands of Mexico +and Peru. This may perhaps have been due to the original situation +of the plants suitable for cultivation, for the banks of the +Mississippi, of the Amazon, of the Orinoco, are not more unhealthy +than those of the rivers of the Old World. A few words about each of +the three regions. China had already possessed for some thousands +of years a flourishing agriculture and even horticulture, when she +entered for the first time into relations with Western Asia, by the +mission of Chang-Kien, during the reign of the Emperor Wu-ti, in +the second century before the Christian era. The records known as +Pent-sao, written in our Middle Ages, state that he brought back the +bean, the cucumber, the lucern, the saffron, the sesame, the walnut, +the pea, the spinach, the watermelon, and other western plants, +then unknown to the Chinese. Chang-Kien, it will be observed, was +no ordinary ambassador. He considerably enlarged the geographical +knowledge and improved the economic condition of his countrymen. +It is true that he was constrained to dwell ten years in the west, +and that he belonged to an already civilized people, one of whose +emperors had, 2700 B. C., consecrated with imposing ceremonies the +cultivation of certain plants. The Mongolians were too barbarous, +and came from too cold a country, to have been able to introduce +many useful species into China; but when we consider the origin +of the peach and the apricot, we shall see that these plants were +brought into China from Western Asia, probably by isolated travelers, +merchants or others, who passed north of the Himalayas. A few species +spread in the same way into China from the west before the embassy +of Chang-Kien. + +Regular communication between China and India only began in the time +of Chang-Kien, and by the circuitous way of Bactriana; but gradual +transmissions from place to place may have been effected through +the Malay Peninsula and Cochin-China. The writers of northern China +may have been ignorant of them, and especially since the southern +provinces were only united to the empire in the second century before +Christ. + +Regular communications between China and Japan only took place about +the year 57 of our era, when an ambassador was sent; and the Chinese +had no real knowledge of their eastern neighbors until the Third +Century, when the Chinese character was introduced into Japan. + +The vast region which stretches from the Ganges to Armenia and the +Nile was not in ancient times so isolated as China. Its inhabitants +exchanged cultivated plants with great facility, and even transported +them to a distance. It is enough to remember that ancient migrations +and conquests continually intermixed the Turanian, Aryan, and Semitic +peoples between the great Caspian Sea, Mesopotamia and the Nile. +Great states were formed nearly at the same time on the banks of +the Euphrates and in Egypt, but they succeeded to tribes which had +already cultivated certain plants. Agriculture is older in that +region than Babylon and the first Egyptian dynasties, which date +from more than four thousand years ago. The Assyrian and Egyptian +empires afterward fought for supremacy, and in their struggles they +transported whole nations, which could not fail to spread cultivated +species. On the other hand, the Aryan tribes who dwelt originally to +the north of Mesopotamia, in a land less favorable to agriculture, +spread westward and southward, driving out or subjugating the +Turanian and Dravidian nations. Their speech, and those which are +derived from it in Europe and Hindostan, show that they knew and +transported several useful species. After these ancient events, of +which the dates are for the most part uncertain, the voyages of the +Phœnicians, the wars between the Greeks and Persians, Alexander’s +expedition into India, and finally the Roman rule, completed the +spread of cultivation in the interior of Western Asia, and even +introduced it into Europe and the north of Africa, wherever the +climate permitted. + +Later, at the time of the Crusades, very few useful plants yet +remained to be brought from the East. A few varieties of fruit trees +which the Romans did not possess, and some ornamental plants, were, +however, then brought to Europe. + +The discovery of America in 1492 was the last great event which +caused the diffusion of cultivated plants into all countries. The +American species, such as the potato, maize, the prickly pear, +tobacco, etc., were first imported into Europe and Asia. Then a +number of species from the Old World were introduced into America. +The voyage of Magellan (1520-1521) was the first direct communication +between South America and Asia. In the same century, the slave +trade multiplied communications between Africa and America. Lastly, +the discovery of the Pacific Islands in the Eighteenth Century, and +the growing facility of the means of communication, combined with a +general idea of improvement, produced that more general dispersion of +useful plants of which we are witnesses at the present day. + + + + + VEGETABLE MIMICRY AND HOMOMORPHISM + --ALEXANDER S. WILSON + + +Besides the family likeness and similarity of structure +characteristic of closely allied organisms, other resemblances +included under the terms Mimicry and Homomorphism, are observed among +living things which can not be referred to a common ancestry since +they are presented by plants and animals whose affinities are more +or less remote. If the resemblance confers any benefit on either +species it is spoken of as a case of mimicry, but if it results from +the operation of general laws and is not directly advantageous, the +likeness is described as homomorphic. It is not always possible to +draw a sharp line between the two, and homomorphism not improbably +represents one stage in the development of mimetic species. + +The vital phenomena of plants and animals are so near akin that it +would be strange if we did not meet with corresponding facts in the +vegetable kingdom. Mimicry is perhaps more frequent in the seed than +in any other part of vegetable organism; it occurs, however, in +other organs, and even the entire plant body may assume a deceptive +appearance. A well-known example is the white dead-nettle, which so +closely resembles the stinging nettle in size and in the shape and +arrangement of its leaves. In systematic position the two plants are +widely removed from each other, but they grow in similar situations +and are easily mistaken; any one who has occasion to collect any +quantities of Lamium is almost sure to get his hands stung by +Urtica, an experience calculated to convince one of the efficacy of +protective resemblance. Among animals it is species provided with +formidable weapons of defence that are most frequently mimicked by +weak defenceless creatures. The stinging nettle is therefore a very +likely model for unprotected plants to copy. + +A somewhat analogous case is the yellow bugle of the Riviera, which +has its leaves crowded and divided into three linear lobes, some of +which are again divided. In this the plant differs very greatly from +its allies; it has, however, acquired a very striking resemblance +to a species of Euphorbia, abundant on the Riviera. The acrid juice +of the Euphorbias secures them immunity against a host of enemies. +As the two plants grow together there is little room to doubt that, +like the dead-nettle, the bugle profits by its likeness to its well +protected neighbor. + +The rare heath Menziesia cærulia, thought to be protected by its +marked resemblance to the crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), has also been +adduced as a probable case of mimicry. + +Mr. A. R. Wallace in _Tropical Nature_ refers to the stone +mesembryanthemum at the Cape described by Dr. Burchell, which closely +resembles in form and color the stones among which it grows; on this +account the discoverer believes this juicy little plant generally +escapes the notice of cattle and wild herbivorous animals. + +Mr. J. P. Mansel Weale mentions that in Karoo many plants have +tuberous roots above the soil resembling stones so perfectly that it +is almost impossible to distinguish them. The tubers of the potato +itself in its native home may perhaps be protected in this way. + +The last-mentioned observer has also noted a labiate plant, Ajuga +orphrydis, in South Africa, which bears a strong resemblance to an +orchid. As this is the only species of bugle in the district, Mr. +Wallace thinks the flower profits by the mimicry and succeeds in +attracting the insects required for its fertilization. A species +of balsam at the Cape has also acquired an orchid-like aspect; +Tillandsia Usneoides, one of the pineapple family, grows on trees +in tropical America, and has a resemblance to a shaggy lichen so +marked that it is generally mistaken for a plant of that order. The +fly agaric, our most conspicuously colored fungus, according to +Dr. Plowright, is closely imitated by a parasitic flowering plant, +Balanophora volucrata, the scarlet cap, the dotted warts, the white +stem and volva being all accurately represented. + +The curious shapes of some exotic orchids are probably advantageous +from their resemblance to insects and birds. One of our native +orchids, Listua ovata, has a flower which in shape decidedly +resembles a species of beetle, Grammoptera lævis, by which it is +fertilized. Perhaps in this case the insect mimics the flower, as +certainly happens with a pink-colored mantis in Java, which so +exactly resembles a pink orchid that butterflies are attracted to it +in mistake. The insect is carnivorous, and lies in wait for its prey, +which is easily secured by the help of this strange disguise. Mutual +resemblances of this description are rather characteristic of the +Orchidaceæ. From their resemblance, real or fanciful, to butterflies, +moths, bees, spiders, etc., various species of Habenaria, Neotinea, +and Ophrys derive their names--the butterfly, spider, bee and +fly orchises. In the orchid Ophrys muscifera are two little +protuberances, regarded by the late H. Müller as pseudo-nectaries. +Of this class of deceptive contrivances, however, we have a better +example in Parnassia palustris, one of the saxifrages. This flower +has five fan-like scales alternating with the stamens; the margins +of the scales are fringed with hair-like processes, and each hair +is capped with what appears to be a drop of honey. These are really +hard, dry knobs, but so much do they resemble drops of honey that +flies lick them before discovering the imposture. The intention of +these sham nectar-drops may either be to decoy unprofitable guests +from the real nectar, of which a limited supply is produced in the +hollow of each scale, or to advertise it for the benefit of the more +intelligent visitors. + +Somewhat analogous to these pseudo-nectaries are the greenish +swellings which arise on the veins of the petals of Eremurus. These +little swellings present a striking resemblance to aphides, or +plant-lice, and Kerner states that a fly accustomed to hunt after +aphides pierces and sucks the swellings, apparently mistaking them +for the insects. + +Relations which remind us of the pink orchid and mantis, mentioned +above, seem to exist between the little bladders of Utricularia and +the entomostracans. The bladderwort is a carnivorous plant with small +submerged vesicles in which minute insects and entomostracans are +caught. In shape these little traps of Utricularia are not unlike the +body of a crustacean; the stalk corresponds to the tail, and near +the entrance of each bladder are several antenna-like filaments so +resembling certain appendages of the crustaceans that they impart +to the structure a ludicrous resemblance to such an entomostracan +as Daphne. This curious likeness was remarked by Mr. Darwin and can +hardly be altogether accidental; perhaps the prey is more readily +induced to approach the snare by reason of the resemblance. Here +also may be mentioned the imposture practiced on its victims by +Darlingtonia, another insectivorous plant. In the hood of its +pitcher-like leaf are several transparent spaces through which the +light shines into the interior; to these the imprisoned flies are +attracted and thereby diverted from the only opening through which +escape is possible. Mistaking the “windows” for real openings, the +captives exhaust themselves in vain efforts to regain their liberty +and are ultimately precipitated into the depths of the pitcher. + +The flowers of the ox-eye daisy and the feverfew are very much +alike, and this was adduced by the late Mr. Grant Allen as a possible +case of mimicry. But the probability is that in this instance +the resemblance is merely homomorphic. The colors of flowers are +distinctive as well as attractive. Where two species of plant +grow together and are in blossom at the same time it is to their +disadvantage to have the flowers of the one mistaken for those of +the other. To secure cross-fertilization it is needful that the +insect visitors pass from one flower to another of the same species, +otherwise the pollen will be conveyed to the stigmas of the wrong +species. It is of importance that the fertilizing agents should be +able readily to distinguish different flowers, and this is no doubt +one reason for the diversity of their colors, shapes, and odors. +This circumstance must operate as a check against the production +of mimetic blossoms; it will not, however, prevent flowers from +acquiring a likeness to any object other than a flower. + +Mimetic resemblances are much more numerous among fruits and seeds +than in flowers. A very curious example is Orphicaryon paradoxum, the +snake-nut of Demerara, inside which is the coiled embryo resembling a +small snake. Among others mentioned by Lord Avebury are Tricosanthes +anguina, the pod of which assumes a snake-like guise; Scorpiurus +vermiculata, with pods in the form of a worm or caterpillar; S. +subvillosa and Biserrula pelecinus, where the resemblance is to a +centipede and certain lupines with spider-like seeds. The seeds of +Abrus precatorius, Martynia diandra, Jatropha, the castor oil plant +and the scarlet runner mimic certain beetles. The presence of a +caruncle representing the head of the insect renders the imitation +more complete; this structure takes no part in germination, and +Kerner is of opinion that it prevents the ants from attacking the +substance of the seeds which they drag about from place to place. +The ox-tongue and cow-wheat have worm-like seeds, and several plants +have fruit difficult to distinguish from little pieces of dry twig. +The jet-black, shining seeds and achenes of Delphinium, Helleborus, +Juncus, Atriplex, Polygonum, etc., are easily mistaken for beetles; +the brightly colored seeds of Iris Germanica are also in all +probability mimetic. + +The beautiful glossy scarlet and black piebald seeds of Abrus known +as rosary beans perhaps escape destruction through birds mistaking +them for some nauseous insect gaudily attired in warning colors. But +from the manner in which the seed-vessels of Iris and Arbus dehisce +and expose their seeds the brilliant colors of the latter would +appear to subserve dissemination rather than protection. Such hard +seeds are probably dispersed through the agency of insectivorous +birds, which seize them in mistake for their more legitimate prey. +According to Lord Avebury, the beans of Abrus mimic the beetle +Artemis circumusta. The smaller seeds, known as crab’s eyes, are +colored in an analogous manner. These cases are the less surprising +if we have regard to the fact that the majority of dry fruits, +though green while growing, become black or brown when they fall +to the ground, so that their general tint corresponds with their +surroundings and tends to concealment. + +The odors of fungi are very varied. Clathrus and Phallus are +offensive and attract swarms of blow-flies; Lactarius and Hydnum, on +the other hand, are sweetly scented like the flowers of Melilotus. +Among the odors of fungi enumerated by Dr. Plowright are those of +aniseed, mint, peppermint, garlic, horse-radish, cucumber, ripe +apricots, rotting pears, rancid herring, Russia leather, gas-tar, +prussic acid, nitric acid, and cacodyl. Like the hemlock, Agaricus +incanus has the smell of mice, two species of Lactarius have the +odor of the common house-bug, while Hygrophorus cossus smells like +the larvæ of the goat-moth. Fifteen or sixteen species of agaric +resemble oatmeal both in taste and smell, Hydnum repandum has the +flavor of oysters, recalling the oyster plant among the Boraginaceæ, +whose leaves have a similar taste. Several are possessed of a +nut-like flavor. The common stinkhorn, Phallus impudicus, is the +best known representative of a large family of fungi, the members of +which are found in various parts of the world. The Phalloidi include +Phallus, Lysurus, Simblum, Clathrus, Aseröe, and other genera, all +characterized by offensive odors and conspicuous colors. These fungi +have been carefully studied by Mr. T. Wemys Fulton, whose paper on +the _Dispersion of Spores in Fungi_ in the _Annals of Botany_ for +1899 contains many interesting and important observations bearing on +mimicry. + +The rapid elongation of the stinkhorn is very remarkable; the fungus +has been observed to attain a height of several inches in half an +hour, furnishing an apt illustration of the proverb that ill weeds +grow apace. It not only emits an intolerable charnel-house stench, +but its ghastly pallid hue seen against the background of its usual +surroundings is peculiarly suggestive of the dead carcass of some +animal. Its surface at first exudes a sweetish slime containing +sugar, but the hymeneum or spore-bearing portion is deliquescent +and the entire mass speedily undergoes a series of changes, the +white becoming brown, then black, the solid mass being ultimately +resolved into a dark fetid fluid in which the spores are suspended. +These mimetic changes, which so closely approximate to those +of decomposition, attract carrion flies in prodigious numbers. +Blow-flies even deposit their eggs on the fungus, and the maggots +seem to develop as though nourished by its substance. On examination +Mr. Fulton found the spores adhering in thousands to the feet and +proboscides of the insects. Their excrement he found to consist +almost entirely of spores, and the latter were found by experiment +to be still capable of germination. There is therefore no doubt in +this case that flies are employed as agents in the dispersion of the +fungus. This statement also applies to various Coprini and others +with a deliquescent hymeneum. + +Quite a number of flowers have distinctly mimetic odors. It can +hardly be doubted, for example, that the offensive smell of the +carrion flowers Stapelia, Aristolochia, Arum, Rafflesia, and others, +is more effective in promoting cross-fertilization because of its +resemblance to the odor of putrid meat. So completely are the flesh +flies deceived that they often deposit their eggs on the petals of +carrion flowers. + +Fetid odors occur in Bryonia, Helleborus, Geranium, Stachys, Ballota, +Iris and other genera. The odors of others have a curious resemblance +to the smells emitted by certain animals. Hypericum hircinum and +Orchis hircina are bad smelling flowers with an odor resembling that +of the goat; Coriandrum sativum has the fetid smell of bugs, while +the hemlock, again, emits a strong odor of mice. Along with these may +be mentioned Adoxa, the musk orchis, the grape hyacinth, and other +musky-scented flowers. + +The resemblance in smell between these flowers and the secretion +formed in the scent glands of the musk ox and other animals is, +to say the least, a remarkable coincidence. Possibly flies which +accompany cattle may be attracted by smells of this description. Very +curious also is the vinous smell of Œnanthe, and the brandy-like +aroma of the yellow water lily Nuphar, hence called the brandy +bottle. Ethereal oils exhaled by plants while attractive to some +animals seem to repel others; the scents of sweet-smelling flowers +such as Daphne, Thymus, Marjoram, Melilotus, and Gymnademia, +though grateful to bees and butterflies, appear to be distasteful +to ruminants. Kerner states that in general the latter avoid all +blossoms; even caterpillars do not readily attack the petals of their +food plants. Odor may therefore be protective or attractive or it +may be of use in both ways. The same remark applies to color, which +may serve either to attract or repel; the richly variegated leaves +of the Indian nettles--species of Colleus--and the tinted foliage +of begonia and geranium may possibly escape injury on account of +the general resemblance to colored blossoms. Instances in which +one plant resembles another in smell are not very common in the +flowering class, though cases do occur like the garlic, mustard and +apple-scented Salvia. Resembling odors are much more frequent among +fungi. + +Characteristic examples of homomorphism are seen in the resemblances +which many species of Euphorbia present to the cactus tribe and +in the pollen-masses of the orchids and asclepias. In Britain the +order Euphorbiaceæ is represented by the box, dog’s-mercury, and +the sun-spurges, but many foreign species have quite a different +appearance and agree with the cacti in their aborted leaves and green +succulent stems. The globular, columnar, and angular forms give to +both a peculiar aspect by which they are broadly distinguished from +all other vegetable types; and yet in systematic position these two +orders stand far apart. The nearest affinities of the Euphorbiæ +are with the Urticaceæ and other orders having incomplete flowers, +while the nearest allies of the Cacti are the Cucurbitaceæ and other +calycifloral orders. Succulent stemmed plants of this description are +specially adapted to an arid climate, and it is not unreasonable to +suppose that the similarity between the Euphorbiæ and Cacti results +from the long-continued action of similar external conditions upon +similarly endowed tissues. + +The Australian Casuarinas are dicotyledons with incomplete +flowers nearly related to the oak, hazel, and other Cupuliferæ, +but in outward appearance they have a singular resemblance to +the horsetails, a family of cryptogams. One of the gymosperms +or cone-bearing class, Ephedra, also presents the same jointed +appearance so characteristic of Equisetaceæ. Growing in marshy +places very like those affected by Equisetum we find the mare’s-tail +Hippurus, a flowering plant allied to the fuchsia family, but +externally resembling Equisetum in its jointed stem and whorled +leaves. A familiar instance of the same kind of homomorphism is +Equisetum sylvaticum, which might almost be described as a liliputian +fir-tree. The little flowers of the water ranunculus look exactly +like miniature water lilies, while the leaves and flowers of Caltha +palustris simulate the yellow Nuphar so much that in some parts +of the country the marsh marigold is known as the water lily. The +specific name of another aquatic, Lymnanthemum nymphædides, indicates +a peculiarity of the same kind. Leaf analogies are frequent among +aquatic plants; the orbicular, peltate leaf of the Indian cress +occurs, for example, in Hydrocotyle, Nelumbium, and others. The +brown color and translucence of Potamogeton, Myriophyllum, and other +aquatics assimilates them to the fronds of Laminaria and other +sea-weeds. + +A grass-like habit is assumed by some plants. This character is +attained in the meadow vetchling by the arrested development of +the compound leaves and the great elongation of the stipules. +Lathyrus nissolia has the stipules minute, but the phyllodes or +leaf-like petioles impart the grass-like character. A moss-like +habit occurs in a great many plants belonging to very different +families; thus the wiry stem of the purging flax reminds one of +the seta of Polytrichum. The pearlwort of the walls, many alpine +saxifrages, pinks, and gentians present very much the appearance of +mosses, _e. g._, Silene acaulis, Saxifraga bryoides, S. hypnoides, +Arenaria Cherleri, etc. The sub-species Saxifraga geum is another +instance of leaf analogy. The generic name Pyrola implies a fancied +resemblance of the leaves to those of the pear tree. Certain +leaf-types frequently recur, the rough broadly tongue-shaped leaf of +the bugloss, for example; hence the very common specific appellation +echioides. The nettle-leaved bell-flower reproduces the foliage of +Urtica and the sinuate leaf of the oak appears in several families. + +Parasitic phanerogams like Rafflesia commonly exhibit the fungoid +character in a marked degree. In their internal structure, coloring, +spore-like seeds and other characters they approximate closely to the +fungi. + +As examples of homomorphism between closely allied plants may be +mentioned the false oat, which so strikingly resembles the cultivated +species, and the barren strawberry, which agrees so closely with the +cultivated strawberry of our gardens. + +Although it is only under exceptional circumstances that a +flower is likely to mimic another blossom closely, vague general +resemblances are not uncommon, such as that between the rock-rose +and the buttercup, between the milkwort and the vetch, and between +Veronica and Valerianella. A more decided likeness is that of the +garden annual Collinsia to the butterfly blossoms of the pea tribe. +This case is peculiarly instructive since the homomorphism can +be traced to its cause. The butterfly-like corolla of Leguminosæ +seems to have afforded the pattern after which a number of flowers +have been fashioned. The Papilionaceæ are adapted to bees rather +than to butterflies or moths, and the pollen is applied to the +ventral surface of the insect, the essential organs being lodged +in the carina or pouch formed by the two lower petals. Among the +Scrophulariaceæ to which Collinsia belongs, the pollen is commonly +sprinkled on the back of the insect and the stamens are contained in +the upper lip of the corolla; Collinsia is, however, exceptional; the +stamens are lodged within the lower lip of the flower and the pollen +is applied to the ventral surface of the bee. Here the resemblance +is evidently an indirect result brought about by the flowers of +Collinsia having become adapted to the same class of visitors as the +Papilionaceæ, viz., bees which have their brushes or baskets of hair +for collecting pollen attached to the abdomen. Where two flowers are +very like insects are apt to mistake the one species for the other, +but this will not involve any loss if there is an interval between +their periods of blossoming. + +Homomorphic likenesses are not confined to homologous organs; an +organ of one plant sometimes exhibits a perfect resemblance to a +different organ on some other plant. Thus Aristolochia sipho, the +Dutchman’s pipe, so-called from the appearance of its flowers, has +a perianth singularly like the leaf-pitchers of Nepenthes, and the +curious little nectaries of Nigella might almost be compared with the +pitchers of the Australian insectivorous plant Cephalotus. As the +Aristolochias imprison small dipterous insects in their flowers these +instances favor to some extent Henslow’s idea that both flowers and +pitchers have arisen by hypertrophy caused through the irritation set +up by insects. + +The homomorphism of the orchids and asclepiads is especially +interesting because of the objection to the Darwinian theory that it +presents; the coincidence is certainly unfavorable to the notion of +fortuitous variation. The orchids and asclepiads agree in producing +pollinia or pollen-packets which attach themselves to the bodies of +insects and are thus transferred from flower to flower. Although the +two flowers differ greatly in the details of their structure, this +curious contrivance occurs in no other plants, and yet the two orders +are as widely separated as it is possible to conceive. The orchids +belong to the petaloid division of Monocotyledons; the asclepias to +the gamopetalous Dicotyledons, with their nearest allies among the +Apocynaceæ, of which Vinca, the periwinkle, is perhaps the best known +representative. Although agreeing in this one particular, the flowers +are in other respects very dissimilar. + +Another contrivance for promoting cross-fertilization met with in +unallied plants is the mouse-trap arrangement of hairs by means +of which small flies are temporarily imprisoned. This arrangement +occurs in Aristolochia, in species of Arum, and in Ceropegia, one +of the asclepiads. In these plants, where the affinities are so +slight, the mechanism for fertilization must in each case have arisen +independently. + + + + + THE BAMBOO AND PLANT GROWTH + --R. CAMPER DAY + + +If the many families of flowering plants were arranged in the order +of their utility to man or in the order of their abundance, the first +place in the list would unquestionably be assigned to the great +family of grasses. Of their omnipresence and abundance some idea may +be obtained from the fact that at least four thousand different kinds +have been described, and a German naturalist has estimated that they +constitute a twenty-second part of all known plants. Their utility +as food producers becomes obvious as soon as we recall the names of +rice, wheat, barley, oats, rye, and Indian corn, and remember how +large a proportion of our food is made from their seeds. Most of +these civilized and somewhat unnatural grasses have been so long +under cultivation, and so much altered by man’s selection, that +they are totally unfitted to shift for themselves, and would soon +become extinct if brought into competition with wild plants. The fact +that the wild forms from which they are descended can not now be +identified with certainty shows that their cultivation must date from +the very earliest ages. Rice alone is said to furnish more sustenance +to the human race than any other single species; the common meadow +grasses, such as the purple-tipped Anthoxanthum, which fills the +fields with its penetrating fragrance when the hay is newly mown, are +almost the only food of sheep and cattle; and those tall and sturdy +canes whose juice we squeeze out between rollers, and clarify and +crystallize into sugar, are only modified stems of grass. + +The largest of the family, and perhaps the most beautiful, is the +tropical arborescent grass which bears the name of bamboo. Although +it is not cultivated for the sake of its seed, it has many admirable +qualities, and wherever it grows in abundance it is applied to a +variety of uses. “The strength, lightness, smoothness, straightness, +roundness, and hollowness of the bamboo,” says Mr. A. R. Wallace in +his _Malay Archipelago_, “the facility and regularity with which they +can be split, their many different sizes, the varying length of their +joints, the ease with which they can be cut and with which holes can +be made through them, their hardness outside, their freedom from any +pronounced taste or smell, their great abundance, and the rapidity of +their growth and increase, are all qualities which render them useful +for a hundred different purposes, to serve which other materials +would require much more labor and preparation. The bamboo is one of +the most wonderful and beautiful productions of the tropics, and one +of nature’s most valuable gifts to uncivilized man.” + +In order that the accuracy of this eulogy may be appreciated, +let us imagine the case of a shipwrecked man landing without any +tools, except an axe and a knife, upon an island in which we will +suppose the bamboos are the only vegetation, and let us see how far +he could supply his needs with their assistance. One of his first +requirements would be a house, and this could be provided with very +little labor. The stems of one of the larger species, such as Bambusa +Brandisii, driven into the ground, would form excellent uprights for +the framework, which could be completed with lighter cross-pieces +nailed to the uprights with pegs of the same material. A good roof +could be made by taking broad strips split from large bamboos, and +fastening them side by side with their concave surfaces uppermost, +the interstices between them being covered with other pieces having +their convex sides uppermost. Similar but flatter pieces laid upon +the joists, and tied down firmly with strips shredded from the outer +rind, would form a smooth and elastic floor such as could not be made +out of other materials without a great expenditure of labor. Thin +strips plaited together, or broad strips pegged side by side, might +be used for the walls. + +The furnishing of the house would be an easy matter, for bedsteads, +chairs, brooms, baskets, cords, fans, bottles, mats, and hoes can be +made of bamboo with the greatest facility. The water-tight joints +of the stems form admirable water-vessels, and it would be easy to +bring the water to the very door by a gently sloping aqueduct of +pieces of bamboo split down the middle and supported at intervals +on cross-pieces arranged like the letter X. The jars made from the +joints could be utilized not only for holding water, but even for +boiling it. Mr. Wallace tells us that rice, fish, and vegetables +can be boiled in them to perfection. The young shoots of the bamboo +as they first spring from the ground are said to be a delicious +vegetable, “quite equal to artichokes.” That fish may be readily +caught by the agency of the bamboo is shown by the many specimens +of ingenious fish-traps exhibited in the museum at Kew. If we +suppose our adventurer to take a thin stem of bamboo, and cut off +the end obliquely just above a joint so as to leave a sharp edge, +he would be provided with a hard-pointed and very efficient spear. +In the same way he could supply himself with daggers and arrows; +while from the more elastic species he could make himself a bow, +using a thin strip of the outer rind for a bow-string. The lowest +internode of Arthrosylidium Schomburgkii, which sometimes attains the +extraordinary length of sixteen feet, far surpassing the length of +the joints in all other bamboos (says General Munro), furnishes the +“Sarbican” or blow-pipe through which poisoned arrows are blown by +the natives of Guiana. In the island of Celebes the only article of +dress worn by the natives is a body-cloth called Kian Pakkian, made +of bamboo split into fine shreds, which are passed between the teeth +and bitten until they are soft, when they are woven. + +If, after providing himself with these and similar necessaries, our +shipwrecked man found leisure to amuse himself, he might make æolian +flutes, such as Sir Emerson Tennant saw in Malacca, by boring holes +in the stems of living bamboos, or he might construct a harp like +that in the Kew Museum, London, which was brought from Timor by Mr. +Wallace. This harp is made from a cylinder of bamboo having a node +at each end. Under a strip of the outer rind a quarter of an inch +wide, a sharp knife is passed so that the strip is detached from +the cylinder except at its two ends. The strip forms one of the +harp strings. Two small wedges are pushed under it, and the portion +between the wedges can be sounded like the string of a guitar. It +is also possible, and not very difficult, to make such diverse +articles as paper, pens, waterproof clothing, hats, wax, pickles, +bird-whistles, rafts, pillows, fermented drink, and bridges from the +same versatile vegetable. In the Kew Museum, which should be visited +by every one who wishes to see the varied uses to which bamboos +can be applied, perhaps the most curious article is a headman’s +knife brought by Mr. Franks from the southeastern peninsula of New +Guinea. This singular implement, which is shaped like a cheese-scoop +and seems very ill-adapted to its purpose, is marked with numerous +notches, each notch representing one of its victims; and it is +accompanied by an artistic apparatus, also of bamboo, intended +apparently to enable the executioner to carry the severed head. + +The bamboo usually grows in a cluster of from ten to a hundred +stalks, and springing from the same rhizome or root-stock. The +rhizome is not the root, but an underground portion of the stem. It +consists of a number of segments about the size and shape of a banana +and somewhat bloated in the middle. The banana-like segments are +joined together irregularly by their tips, so that the whole rhizome +forms a strong underground trellis-work admirably adapted to support +the light and yet rigid stems that rise up from it. From the under +side of the rhizome spring downward the true root-fibres, numerous as +the bristles of a broom. + +The stem itself, as every one knows, is smooth, polished, and +cylindrical, and is divided into air-tight compartments by knots or +nodes, which are the points at which the fibres of the stem cross +over from one side to the other. The lowest ten nodes or so are +usually bare, but from the upper nodes issue branches. These are very +slender as compared with the main stem, and carry the foliage leaves. +In most species the leaves are rather small, but in some they are +very large. The species named Planotia nobilis by General Munro, a +native of New Granada, has the largest leaves of any kind of grass; +they are often a foot in diameter and fifteen feet in length. + +The most important part of the bamboo, from a botanical point of +view, is the flower, which roughly resembles the flower of our +common grasses. The flower of grass is inclosed in hard, scaly +leaflets called glumes; it usually has three stamens and one +seed-vessel. There may be only one flower inclosed in the glumes +(as in foxtail grass), or more (as in wheat). The flowers of the +bamboos, while on the whole conforming to the grass type, exhibit +many small differences in different species. In some kinds, as in +Arthrostylidium longiflorum, the inflorescence resembles a bunch of +ears of wheat; in others, as in Bambusa vulgaris, the flowers are +packed into round clusters; in others, as in Chusquea simpliciflora, +they are in threes and fours, each flower hanging by a separate +slender stalk. The seed generally resembles oats or wheat, but in +some species it takes the form of a berry, not unlike the seed of our +familiar pimpernels. In the species known as Molocanna, the fruit is +exceptionally developed, often attaining the size of a largish pear. +Some species flower and die down annually; others flower annually, +but live on; as a rule the bamboo grows for many years without +flowering, and then suddenly bursts into bloom. From the fact that +the number of years between the sowing of the seed and the flowering +of the plant varies, and that in some years nearly all the bamboos +in a given district flower simultaneously, it would seem as if the +blossoming does not take place at any prescribed age, but may occur +at any period after the plants reach maturity when a favorable season +supervenes. It used to be thought that after a general flowering of +the bamboos throughout a district all the plants died, but this view +proves to be incorrect. The flowering shoots usually die, and during +the flowering the foliage almost entirely disappears, but the entire +plant is not necessarily killed. + +The Chinese have a proverb that the bamboo produces seed most +abundantly in years when the rice crop fails, and several curious +cases of the truth of this saying have been recorded. According to +General Munro, in 1812 the universal flowering in Orissa prevented a +famine. Hundreds of people, he says, were on the watch day and night +to secure the seeds as they fell from the branches. Another instance +occurred in 1864, when there was a general flowering of the bamboo in +the Soopa jungles, and very large numbers of persons came from the +neighboring districts to collect the seeds. + +In most bamboos, the stem is characterized by straightness, +smoothness, roundness, and quickness of growth, no doubt because +these qualities have, as a rule, proved serviceable to the plant in +the struggle for existence. Light and air being necessary to the life +of grass, it is manifest that in the dense vegetation of the tropics +a plant which can push itself rapidly to a great height must have an +advantage; and in order that growth may be rapid and the plant spring +up to a considerable height without climbing, it is essential that +there should be as little material as possible in the stem, and yet +that it should be as strong as possible. It is difficult to imagine a +stem in which these conditions would be better fulfilled than in that +of the bamboo. By reason of its hollowness the amount of material +is reduced to a minimum; and by reason of its cylindrical shape, +its nodes, and the hardness of the outer rind, the strength of the +structure is at a maximum. The growth is consequently very rapid, an +increase in height of 2 to 2½ feet having been recorded in a single +day. The Bambusa Brandisii often measures as many as 120 feet, and is +said to attain its full altitude in a few months. + +But although, as a general rule, the necessities of natural selection +have ordained that bamboos shall be perfectly straight and perfectly +round, this archetypal form or idea (to borrow a word from Plato) +does not always hold good. One species, found in Asia, is said to +have crooked and even creeping stems. Another, found in Ecuador, +is described by General Munro as being distinctly a climbing plant. +There is a species, recently described by Mr. Thiselton Dyer, with a +stem exactly square, and as well defined as if cut with a knife. It +has only lately been found in China, where it is grown chiefly for +ornament. + +According to Mr. Dyer, the Chinese account for its squareness in the +following way. They say that in the Fourth Century A. D., the famous +alchemist, Ko Hung, took his chopsticks (which consist of slender +rods of bamboo pared square) and thrust them into the ground of the +spiritual monastery near Mingpo; and then by his thaumaturgical art +he caused them to take root and appear as a new variety--the square +bamboo. + +The growth of plants is one of the greatest mysteries of nature, and +nothing is more mysterious in their growth than their limited but +very definite power of movement. How is it that some plants grow +vertically upward, like the normal bamboo, others climb and twist, +others creep, and others grow in zigzag shapes? How is it that some +turn toward the light, some away from the light, while others place +themselves at right angles to it? And how is it that if you peg down +the young stem of a vertically growing plant it will bend upward +beyond the peg? No doubt the proximate cause is natural selection; +they do these things because they have found them advantageous. But +this does not tell us by what mechanism a plant is enabled to keep +on growing in the particular direction which it finds advantageous. +We know that when a plant bends in a given direction, the cells +on the convex side of the bend are more turgescent, that is, more +distended with sap, than those on the concave side, and that the +increased turgescence of the former is followed by increased rapidity +of growth; but what causes the distribution of turgescence in the +cells has not been clearly made out. It seems probable, however, +that when a shoot is growing in its proper and natural direction, +the chief force which guides it and enables it to maintain that +direction is the force of gravitation. To this force the growing +portions of a plant are extremely sensitive. Consider, for example, +the case of a vertically growing shoot. Whenever it is accidentally +bent the force of gravity must evidently act upon the portion above +the bend, tending to curve it still more, and causing a strain in +the material of the stem. The plant in some mysterious way is aware +of this strain, and the cells of the lower side of the bent portion +are stimulated to increased turgescence as compared with those of +the upper side, so that the under side would grow faster; and as +the plant would turn upward in consequence, any deviation from +the perpendicular would tend to correct itself. Similarly a shoot +which grows horizontally is led by the same stimulus of gravitation +to rectify any departure from a horizontal position. Gravitation, +then, does not _cause_ the bending when a displaced shoot endeavors +to regain its normal direction, but serves merely as a guide. By +its means the plant is made aware (so to speak) that it has been +displaced, and takes measures accordingly. If the force of gravity +were absent, the shoot would go on growing in any position in which +it might happen to be placed. This may be proved by causing a growing +seed to revolve slowly round a horizontal axis, so that at every +revolution the force of gravity may act upon it equally in all +directions. When a shoot is grown in these conditions, it is found +that its power of correcting deviations from any particular line of +growth is lost. Similar reasoning applies to the action of light on +plants, but, as above stated, we do not know why it is that plants +respond to the stimulus of light or gravity; we only know that as a +matter of fact they do so. + +It has often been vaguely asserted that plants are distinguished from +animals by not having the power of movement. It should rather be said +that plants acquire and display this power only when it is of some +advantage to them; but that this is of comparatively rare occurrence, +as they are affixed to the ground, and food is brought to them by the +wind and rain. We see how high in the scale of organization the plant +may rise when we look at one of the more perfect tendril-bearers. +It first places its tendrils ready for action, as a polypus places +its tentacula. If the tendril be displaced, it is acted on by the +force of gravity and rights itself. It is acted on by the light, and +bends toward or from it, or disregards it, whichever may be most +advantageous. During several days, the tendril or internodes, or +both, spontaneously revolve with a steady motion. The tendril strikes +some object, and quickly curls round and firmly grasps it. In the +course of some hours it contracts into a spire, dragging up the stem +and forming an excellent spring. All movements now cease. By growth +the tissues soon become wonderfully strong and durable. The tendril +has done its work, and done it in an admirable manner. + + + + + THE REIGN OF EVERGREENS + --GRANT ALLEN + + +The poor stripped and draggled garden is beginning to look very bare +now (November) of all except a few straggling late-flowering shrubs +and those trusty adopted friends that we have always with us, the +shrubby, large-leaved southern evergreens. In northern climates, +we must ruefully admit, there are hardly any true evergreens, save +only the conifers, with their stiff and needle-like foliage, such +as pines and spruce-firs; but we make up for it to some extent by +borrowing from warmer or more southern lands the laurels, aucubas, +laurustinuses and rhododendrons, that help to keep bright our +English lawns and shrubberies throughout the long and weary winter +months. Indeed, our only native flat-leaved shrubs that retain their +full greenness from year’s end to year’s end are privet, box, and +butcher’s broom, all three of them very doubtfully indigenous to +these islands. It is the rule with English trees and shrubs to shed +their foliage every autumn; and the fashion in which they do so shows +very clearly how purposive and well adapted to their conditions in +life is the deciduous habit. For the leaves do not merely tumble +off anyhow, casually, before the first fierce autumnal winds; if +they did so there would be loss of sap and of valuable foodstuffs to +the whole plant of whose joint commonwealth they form the partially +dependent members: their fall is duly provided for beforehand, and +when at last it actually takes place, it takes place in an orderly +and regular fashion, with the least possible injury to the interests +of the entire tree. From the very beginning there has been arranged +at the joint where the leaf-stalk joins the stem, or where the +separate leaflets join the central midrib, a row or articulation +composed of cellular tissue, and specially designed to act as a joint +for the dry leaves. When winter approaches, and chilly northern +winds are likely to tear to pieces the leaves on the trees, all the +protoplasm and other valuable cell-contents are withdrawn into the +permanent tissues of the plant, leaving only the minor red and yellow +coloring matters (mostly effete and used-up foodstuffs) which give so +much beauty and glory to the general aspect of our autumn woodlands. + +Then the articulation dries up and withers, and the dead leaf +separates at the joint, leaving behind it a regular mark or scar, +which is the visible token of Nature’s definite precaution against +the northern cold and tempests. + +It was not always so, however, and it is not so even now in the +greater part of the modern world that we ourselves inhabit. It +seems quite natural to us northerners that “leaves have their time +to fall”; so natural, indeed, that we almost forget the strict +limitation of the practice to our own chillier latitudes. Yet in +reality the existence of deciduous trees is a mere temporary accident +of the here and the now, a passing consequence of the great cold +spell which had its culminating point in the last glacial epoch, and +from whose lasting effects we ourselves are even still apparently +suffering. Whether, as Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace seems hopeful enough +to believe, our poor old planet may yet recover from this premonitory +chilling or not, whether we may yet look forward to a few more +warm spells or otherwise, before the final numbness of all dying +worlds comes upon us, is a question rather for the consideration of +astronomers and physicists than the mere mundane-roving naturalist, +with his petty ephemeral interests in our plants and animals; but +one thing at least is certain, that till a very recent period, +geologically speaking, our earth enjoyed a warm and genial climate up +to the poles themselves, and that all its vegetation was everywhere +evergreen, of much the same type as that which now prevails in the +modern tropics. Indeed, we have only to look at the existing state of +things in order to see how very slight is the effect that has thus +been produced upon our temperate flora. For example, among the oaks +alone, there are some twenty species in Europe, of which Southern +Europe has eighteen, mostly evergreen, while north of the Alps there +are only two, or at most three, all of them deciduous. From the +evolutionary point of view it is clear that the northern kinds are +modern developments, specialized to contend with the peculiarly cold +conditions of sub-Arctic Europe. + +Fortunately, too, we are not left in this matter to mere conjecture +or analogy: thanks to the researches of Heer and others, we have +positive geological facts to guide us which show conclusively that up +to the Miocene period Europe was covered by forests of large-leaved +evergreen trees, of what we should now consider distinctively +tropical types. Ever since the Miocene, and on to the culminating +point of the great Ice Age, the European climate has been growing +steadily colder, and the European flora has been at the same time +steadily adapting itself to the new conditions, and to assuming +what we now consider a typically northern aspect. During all that +time, the large-leaved evergreens gave way before the deciduous +trees and the chillier conifers, beginning at the north pole and +spreading gradually southward, as the cold deepened and widened +its range. Since the end of the great Ice Age, and the subsequent +slight amelioration of the climate in Northern Europe, a reverse +process has begun to set in; the Arctic types have begun to recede +slightly once more, and the comparatively southern or temperate +types have pushed their way northward to occupy the place from which +they were previously dispossessed by the newly evolved kinds. It is +not necessary for us to inquire here into the causes of this great +cycle; the facts are there, and for our present purpose they are +quite sufficient. They show conclusively, when one follows them out +in detail, that the evolution of deciduous trees was concomitant with +the growth of cold conditions around the two poles; and that such +trees now exist only where winter, for part of the year, renders the +evergreen condition an undesirable one. Even in the tropics, indeed, +we find on high mountains a belt of deciduous forest, stretching +above the belt of large-leaved evergreens, which itself succeeds to +the lowland palms and tree-ferns of the thorough-going equatorial +plains. + +The reason for the evolution of deciduous trees is of course to be +found in the peculiar circumstances of the circumpolar regions. In +the tropics, trees and plants can thrive and blossom all the year +round; and even in temperate countries most small herbs and weeds +gain by keeping their foliage throughout the winter; but big trees in +cold climates would suffer much by the tearing and strewing of their +leaves in winter gales, while they would obtain little advantage by +retaining them on the tree during the long chilly season. Hence, if +any tree happened to possess any arrangement by which dead or dying +leaves could be removed without injury to the permanent tissues, +while, at the same time, the useful materials were withdrawn into +the young bark to await the spring awakening, such a tree would +obviously enjoy an advantage in the struggle for existence, and would +be likely to outstrip its evergreen neighbors in rigorous climates. +Now, as a matter of fact, the germ of such an arrangement is found +even in many herbs or small shrubs, such as, for example, the common +pelargoniums or “scarlet geraniums” of our flower-gardens. Everybody +who has ever kept these familiar plants in his own rooms must have +noticed how easily the dead leaves separate from the stem at their +base, by means of the swollen cellular mass where the leaf-stalk +joins the axis. All that the forest trees of northern climates had +to do, then, was just to take advantage of this nascent provision, +wherever it existed (mark this prior necessity), and render it more +fixed under the influence of natural selection. But if we may judge +by the actual sequel, it was not every kind of tree that could adapt +itself to the altered circumstances; as a matter of fact, the number +of species among northern forest trees is very small indeed, and even +out of this small number a good many are conifers, like the pines and +yews, whose narrow tough leaves are well fitted for withstanding and +battling against all the winter breezes. Still, among the conifers +themselves there are a few species, such as the larches, with tender, +delicate foliage, which have also become deciduous under stress +of altered conditions. At the present day the large-leaved and +flat-leaved evergreens are mostly confined to tropical, sub-tropical, +or at least warm temperate climates, and all the forest trees or +the circumpolar tracts are either deciduous, or else are tough +leathery-leafed conifers. The laurels and rhododendrons, with which +we strive artificially to brighten up our comparatively leafless +English winter, are either hardy representatives of the warm +temperate flora, or else mountain species from southern climates, +with constitutions just strong enough to endure our chilly season +in favored and carefully selected situations. Such evergreens have +generally very rigid and shiny leaves to protect them--a point well +marked in ivy and laurel as compared with Virginia creeper and +English hawthorn. + + + + + OUR MICROSCOPIC FOES + --A. WINKELRIED WILLIAMS + + +Of all the foes that are waging war against mankind, the most +dangerous and deadly are minute organisms belonging to the lowest +order of plant-life, and invisible to our naked eye. An immense +number of these always surround us, and are ready to make an attack +should they find a weak point in our defences. + +Their presence in the air may be readily demonstrated by exposing +some material upon which they can feed, and watching the result. The +simplest method is to boil a potato, cut it in half, and immediately +place one-half under a bell glass purified by being washed in an +antiseptic solution such as corrosive sublimate. Expose the second +half to the open air for a short time, and place it also under a +glass. Let them remain for a few days, and then examine. If the first +half has been placed rapidly enough under the glass, we shall find +it unaltered. On the second half, however, we shall see a number of +small but growing spots, which will probably vary much in color. +These consist of colonies made up by immense numbers of most minute +plants, _i. e._, bacteria, and also of higher fungi. Certain species +of the bacteria constitute our dreaded foes. + +Bacteria are non-nucleated unicellular plants, which may be roughly +classed into two divisions according to their shape, the circular +forms being called micrococci, the elongated forms bacilli. In size, +they are most minute, being only visible under the highest powers +of the microscope. Many are provided with cilia, by the lashing of +which they are capable of independent movement. They are composed of +a peculiarly resistant protoplasm, which is condensed at the surface, +so that by the action of certain caustics they can be separated from +many tissues on which they may be lying, the caustics destroying +these tissues. + +Bacteria have enormous power of reproduction, which is accomplished +by division of the cells and fission. Many also form globular spores +by a condensation of their protoplasm. The spores have a much higher +power of resistance than the bacteria themselves, and may under +unfavorable circumstances be quiescent while awaiting better times to +take on full development. + +Their _habitat_ is almost everywhere. In water, bacteria exist in +great numbers; they are even found in springs at their sources. +This indicates their presence in the soil, where they are found in +great numbers. We have already seen that they exist in the air, but +being, for their size, heavy bodies, they are invariably attached +to less dense particles of dust. Out at sea, we find the air free +from bacteria, although in the water they abound. The higher we +ascend, the fewer we find. In towns, the air teems with them; in +the country but few exist. In the healthy living body, there are +no bacteria, except in the alimentary canal and upper respiratory +passages. It must not be supposed that all bacteria are the +forerunners of disease; such is the case with only certain forms +to which the significant term pathogenic bacteria is applied. Many +authorities assert that the non-pathogenic forms may, under certain +circumstances, develop into pathogenic forms. This, however, has +not been definitely settled, since we are only able to separate the +different classes of bacteria by their action on cultivating media +and on the living body. We have not yet been able to develop by +cultivation a virulent form from a non-virulent, although we have by +repeated cultivation diminished the virulence of the most malignant +bacteria. + +Of all the pathogenic bacteria we have the most direful tale to tell. +Of one, discovered by Dr. R. Koch--namely, that of tubercle--the +terrible ravages on human life by ferocious animals in India (over +24,800 fatalities per annum) are but trifling compared to the +ravages stealthily done in our midst by this the smallest of the +class of most minute living units. According to Dr. Koch’s estimate +one-seventh of the human race die of pulmonary consumption, and +this is only one, certainly the most prolific, of the many diseases +directly caused by the tubercle bacillus. + +Happily for warm-blooded animals, these terrible death-dealers differ +from most other bacteria, for although they can remain alive for some +time outside the body, they are unable to develop in the outside +world, and this considerably limits their number. A temperature above +96° Fahr. is necessary for their growth, and there are only a very +few soils on which they can be cultivated, such as blood-serum and +meat jelly. Moreover, they develop more slowly than other known +bacteria, which may consequently outgrow them, and prevent their +development. How, then, are we to account for the fact that tubercle +is such a widely spread disease, not only among all the races of men, +but also among many of the lower animals? The consideration of the +following facts answers this question. + +The tubercle bacillus can form resting spores; consequently, when +once the tissues of a part have their vitality so lowered that the +entrance of the bacilli is allowed, they can retain their hold with +great tenacity. Although the bacilli can not develop outside the +body, their vitality is preserved for a long time. Certain animal +products used for food, such as the milk of tubercular cows, contain +the bacilli. Experiments such as causing animals to inhale the +tubercle bacilli, or the introduction of them into the blood, or +sometimes the feeding on tubercular matter, result in tuberculosis. + +Pulmonary consumption presents an example of the most typical way in +which the tubercle bacillus performs its deadly work. In the majority +of cases, the bacilli are inhaled with the air, but may also infect +the lungs from the blood carrying them from tuberculosis in other +parts of the body. The bacilli are incapable of independent movement. +This difficulty is too readily overcome in the body, as the streams +of blood and lymph easily carry them along. + +Their movements in the body may be aided by certain scavengers that +are crawling about in our tissues and circulating in our blood; +namely, the wandering cells of connective tissue and the white blood +corpuscles. These take up the bacilli by wrapping their substance +around them; then, for a time, they crawl about carrying with them +the bacilli. In this attempt to devour the tubercle bacillus, +they often find they have caught a Tartar, who in turn feeds and +multiplies in them, and thus their wandering days soon end. + +Many other diseases are known to be caused by bacteria, such as +anthrax, cholera, pneumonia, typhoid fever, erysipelas, leprosy, +suppuration, and ordinary blood-poisoning. Before Sir Joseph Lister +introduced the system of antiseptic surgery, bacteria were a most +fertile source of danger in surgical operations by the decomposition +and suppuration they set up in the wounds. + +In this short paper it is impossible to describe the characteristics +of any other pathogenic bacteria, but perhaps enough has been written +to show the great danger to which we are exposed from attacks by an +immense army of minute foes. + + + + + FOREST FORMATIONS + --M. J. SCHLEIDEN + + +It is difficult to give the character of the various wood-formations +in woods with even a small proportion of that vividness and reality +which the landscape painter so readily attains by drawing, foliage, +color, and effect of light. Nevertheless, the differences are +striking enough to all who approach nature with open senses. Even the +fir and pine woods exhibit essential differences in their features; +the former with straight stems arranged parallel to each other +like columns, with the conical crowns of verticillate branches; the +latter bearing on the gnarled, curved trunks, the lines of which +cross in all directions in perspective, a flat umbel of foliage, a +bearing which is most purely and nobly exhibited by the stone pine. +These pine-woods, which extend over miles of country in the Mark +of Brandenburg, are repeated in more luxuriant development in the +“pine-barrens” of North America. Here, as there, loving a sandy soil, +they extend in a broad band several hundred miles long, down to the +coast of North Carolina, forming by their mass a very prominent +feature in the physiognomy of the whole country. + +Still more striking is the distinction between the particular +formations of the leafy woods; the crowded arrangement of the social +beeches, limes, or elms produces woods with dusky shades and a soil +void of vegetation, while the proud oak, repressing the growth of all +other trees in its immediate neighborhood, stands alone upon a soil +pleasantly clothed with grass and herbs, or unites in small groups to +form those wonderful woodland landscapes to which the immortal pencil +of Ruysdäel so often introduces us. + +Differently acts the massive lustre of the magnolia woods of the +southern part of North America, from the elegant beauty of the +African acacia groves, or the ghost-like transparency of the northern +birch, and the whole tropical world unfolds a multiformity, the +description of which would be an inexhaustible theme. + +When the dense foliage hinders the action of the sun and the +refreshing breeze, and thus retards the decomposition of the +vegetable masses, where the ground, flat and without any declivity, +allows the accumulation of water, and the more since the heaped-up +bodies of dead plants continually increase the barriers to the +efflux, and the humus formed greedily sucks up the moisture--there +are formed the most extensive swamps. By the progressive action of +the remains of vegetation the ground becomes elevated, and such +spongy, semi-fluid masses often lie, at length, far above the +level of the surrounding plain, the sun’s heat never sufficing, +even when storms remove the protecting roof, to dry up the marsh, +or to restrain its increase. Such a swamp rises twelve feet above +the surrounding plains in Virginia, between the towns of Suffolk +and Walden, and is called by the inhabitants “the Great Dismal,” +giving origin to considerable rivers and supplying them with water. +The North American cypress (Cupressus disticha) it is which with +its delicate but dense foliage gives rise to the formation of +these structures. It is the same tree which forms the terrible +evil-renowned cypress swamps of Louisiana, on the banks of the +Red River and the Mississippi. Gigantic trunks of unprecedented +mightiness crowd together, interweaving their branches and spreading +an obscure twilight in the brightest day. The soil consists +merely of half-decayed blocks piled one upon another, alternating +with a fathomless mud, in which the voracious alligators and +snapping-turtles wallow, the sole lords of this hell, steaming up +almost beneath the tropical sun--thus in the height of summer; in +the spring the thick, miry floods of the issuing streams impetuously +overflow this malignant vegetation for many miles. Thus these +cypress-swamps, of which Seatsfield has given us such a vivid +picture, correspond in inland countries to the mangrove-woods which +border the mouths of almost all the tropical rivers. Composed of a +very few species of plants, among which the mangrove-tree is the most +common, they are especially striking from the great number of strong +roots springing out high up the stem, and bearing this aloft above +the surface. The peculiar habitation of this plant is the _brackish +water_, which consists, at the ebb, of the fresh water of the river, +which is dislodged by the sea-water at the flood. The numerous roots +often form a so thickly entangled mass that the interspaces may be +stopped up by the falling leaves, collecting thus a soil for a new +vegetation, beneath which, at different hours of the day, roll the +waves of the river and the sea. But more frequently the roots merely +operate to retard the flow of the water and to retain in their +interlacements the vegetable and animal bodies driven down the river, +which then decay here in contact with sea-water and its salts. In +these regions the terrible sulphureted hydrogen gas is developed so +abundantly, poisoning the atmosphere, that the natives who have lived +in these abodes from their youth upward totter about as it were like +spectres, while death almost inevitably snatches off the Europeans +who enter there. + +As the hill between mountain and level land, so between the +wood-formation and the plain a link is formed by the bush and the +plains, displaying merely small, isolated groups of trees. + +A portion of the so-called woods on the northern coast of Australia +must be reckoned here, those which clothe the enormous tract +extending southward into the interior from Raffles Bay and Essington. +They exhibit a wholly peculiar physiognomy, which is repeated almost +everywhere throughout this strange country. The trees and bushes +have leathery leaves, the majority of them being covered with a +white, resinous powder, which gives them the most monotonous, dismal, +pallid look possible. The principal trees are species of Eucalyptus, +Acacia, Leptospermum and Melaleuca. Many other plants, scarcely to +be reckoned by the side of those named, live beneath the shelter +of those lofty grayish stems, which stand far apart, and by their +meagre, incessantly trembling foliage, remind us of the weeping +willow. Handsome tufts of grass, with long, slender halm, grow +throughout the whole extent of these bushes, and in them nestle the +kangaroo, with the ring-dove and other birds. The sun’s rays readily +penetrate the narrow leaves, always waving on their long petioles, +and produce an uncertain light mingled with fleeting shadows. The eye +sees far up through the vault of twigs and leaves, and is arrested, +not so much by the density of vegetation as by the continually +changing glance of an uncertain mystic light. + +Still lighter, still less representative of the closed conditions of +woods, is the proper palm-form where the social kinds are grouped +together. The real palm-groves on the northern border of Sahara and +on the shores of the Brazilian rivers more resemble open columned +halls with perforated roofs; and on the dry soil of the elevated +plains of Mexico the stems of the yucca, fourcroya, and other +high-stemmed liliaceous plants are collected in a very peculiar way, +affording neither shade from the sun nor shelter from the wind. To +these approach the deformed masses of the Maguey-plants, with their +broad, thick, rigid, dull-green leaves, sharply toothed on their +borders, and their flowering stalks twenty feet high, rounded off +into strange, fantastic, and impenetrable bush by cacti of manifold +forms. + +The impenetrable chaparrals in the extensive plains between the +Nueces and the Rio Grande, formed of mosquito-shrubs, six to seven +feet high, entwined with lianes; the palmetto-fields on the shores +of the Sabine, Natchez, and other rivers of Texas, formed of rush +and dwarf palms; the low acacia bush of Australia Felix, and +lastly the wide jungles traversed by the elephants and tigers in +the East Indies, and formed of bamboo and other lofty grasses, are +all peculiarly characterized formations of bush, which often not +attaining the height of a man, or but little exceeding it, do not +all betray at the first glance the frequently insuperable obstacle +they oppose to the intruder, and even after man has settled in the +neighborhood can only be traversed by paths which the wild animals +have made. + +With a kind of feeling of disappointed expectation rides the traveler +in the prairies of the West, anything but refreshing appears the +monotonous surface uniformly overgrown with high grass, the line of +the horizon unbroken even by the smallest elevation. He rides and +rides, but ever boundless space expands before his eyes, in the same +uniformity, in the same calm simplicity. + +[Illustration: Bacteria and Vegetable Germs + +3, Pneumonia; 5, Anthrax; 7, Diphtheria; 8, Tuberculosis; 9, Leprosy; +10, Tetanus; 11, Influenza; 12, Typhus; 14, Cholera] + +Situated under similar latitudes and climatal conditions, the pampas +of Buenos Ayres have a character similar to that of the North +American prairies, only man by his influence on nature has here and +there impressed a peculiar stamp. The thistle and artichoke, coming +with the Europeans, have quickly made themselves masters of the free +soil, and with incredible rapidity overspread districts of many +square miles with their spiny vegetation, which has here developed in +a luxuriance unknown in Europe. These thistle-wastes have become a +terrible nuisance, themselves robbers, depriving better plants of the +soil, inaccessible hiding-places for the great thievish, sanguinary +cats, and the still more dangerous human bandits, the thorny weed of +semi-civilization. + +From the western border of northern France, through Belgium, North +Germany, and Russia, almost to the eastern confines of Siberia, +extends a broad plain rarely interrupted by low chains of hills, +and just as rarely affording fitting soil for extensive growth of +wood, which, on the whole, confines itself to the more favorable +soil moistened by the vicinity of rivers. Along the southern border +of this plain extends a chain of hills and mountains, now projecting +forward like capes into the broad surface, now retreating into +broad or narrow creeks, the coast of a sea formerly covering the +whole plain. Over all this endless expanse has one single species +of plant established an almost exclusive predominance, the heath, +which has lent its name to those tracts of land. Conditions similar +to those which produce the distinction between the pine barrens +and cypress swamps in North America are also active here to cause +an essential difference. The great flatness of the ground, even +geological conditions in many places, as where slight elevations of +the land forming flat inclosed basins, prevent, in many situations, +the free discharge of water, and the heath, backed by the special +vegetation produced by the moisture, forms by the annual accumulation +of vegetable matter, which in water only becomes to a certain degree +carbonized or decomposed, those black masses of the remains of +plants which as peat bear such an important part in the economy of +the inhabitants. Thus, in various modes of distribution, alternate +arid, dry sandy heaths with moist, spongy peat heaths or moors. +On the margin of the latter, more rarely actually upon them, and +on the heaths of Luneburg are often found splendid oaks, which, +overshadowing one of those pleasant straw-thatched houses and thrown +out by the background of the peculiar red tint of the glancing +heather, produce a picturesque charm which would not have been +expected here. With these great moors may be associated the peat +moors of some of the higher mountain chains of the Brocken, the Röhn, +and the Fichtel-Gebirge, and so on, and the so-called mosses of South +Germany and Switzerland. + +In another climate, in another zone of vegetation, exist similar +conditions, stretching across the extreme north of Europe. As there +the arid sandy heaths alternate with the wet moors, so here in a +more varied manner do the dry, waterless tracts, with the marshy +grounds. But we are here in Wahlenberg’s region of lichens and +mosses. The arid situations are clothed, in expanses over which the +eye can not reach, with dry, lead-gray lichens, among which the +reindeer seeks his meagre sustenance, and in the half-fluid grounds, +which will not bear the lightest footsteps, a luxuriant vegetation +of mosses deceives us, in the distance, with the aspect of a smiling +meadow. Here the incautious wanderer sinks into the water, which is +rather concealed than displaced by the mosses, while on those lichen +heaths, tundras, the Laplanders call them, in summer the glowing soil +makes every step a torture. + +The wood-formations of the South American catingas may be opposed +to the northern leafy woods and, in like manner, the plains of the +llanos of Venezuela to the Russian steppes. In the former, of which +A. von Humboldt has given such a vivid sketch, the sleep of nature +commences with summer, in the hot, dry season; the vegetation becomes +dried up and falls to dust, leaving the ground bare; animal life, in +the quadrupeds, flies from the dead land, while the crocodiles and +boas burrow into the mud of the gradually exhausted rivers of the +steppes, and with this become fixed, till the first torrent of rain, +which conjures up a fresh, youthful vegetation on the barren soil and +awakens them to life. + +It is different in the steppes which stretch from southern Russia +eastward through central Asia. I will only mention the strange +salt-steppes, which in summer often glitter like newly fallen +snow, from the salt which effloresces from the soil and nourishes a +wholly peculiar vegetation. Yet I can not refrain from attempting +a brief description of the sparingly populated but still inhabited +Tartarian steppes of Pontus. These do not uniformly present a +level surface, being broken by the durrinas, low tracts of bush of +blackthorns, hawthorns, roses and brambles. But the remaining part of +the vegetation is also divided by the inhabitants of lesser Russia, +according to its use for pasture, into two essentially distinct +groups, the truwa, the turf, and the burian, the rough, branching +plants which, on account of their woody stem, afford no sustenance +to the herds of the steppes. The feather-grass[7] is the principal +among the Graminaceous plants. Directly after flowering, it expands +its long, delicately feathered awns, not unlike marabout feathers, +from the spike which rises high above the tuft of narrow, dry leaves. +The older the steppe, the higher develops the woody root-stock above +the soil, to the annoyance of the mower. Whoever travels but a few +miles into the steppes soon hears the word burian. Against the burian +inveighs the herdsman with his oxen and horses; over the burian +laments the husbandman; the burian is the curse of the gardener +and the hope of the cook. For in the soil of the steppe, which is +peculiarly fertile for certain plants, which we call weeds, these +shoot up to an incredible height, wherever cultivation has loosened +the solid soil, which they avoid, and their peculiar use is that, +dried up in the autumn, they furnish the only fuel of those regions. +Above all, as in the pampas of Buenos Ayres, the thistles distinguish +themselves, acquiring a size, a development, and ramification which +is really marvelous. Often do they stand like little trees around the +humble earth-hovels of the country people; on favorable soil, they +often form extensive bush, even overtopping the horseman, who is as +helpless in it as in a wood, since they intercept the sight and yet +afford no trunk which might be climbed. Beside the thistle rises +the wormwood, intermingled with the gigantic mullein or hightaper, +the “steppe-light” of lesser Russia. Even the little milfoil grows +several feet high and is not a little prized, since the inhabitants, +from their poor provision, value it as the best material for fuel. +But the most characteristic of all the plants of the burian is that +which the Russians call “Perekatipole,” the “Leaf in the Field,” and +the German colonists, almost more happily, the “Wind Witch.” A poor +thistle-plant, it divides its strength in the formation of numerous +dry, slender shoots, which spread out on all sides and are entangled +with one another. More bitter than wormwood, the cattle will not +touch it even in times of the utmost famine. The domes which it forms +upon the turf are often three feet high and sometimes ten to fifteen +in circumference, arched over with naked, delicate thin branches. In +the autumn the stem of the plant rots off, and the globe of branches +dries up into a ball, light as a feather, which is then driven +through the air by the autumnal winds over the steppe. Numbers of +such balls often fly at once over the plain with such rapidity that +no horseman can catch them; now hopping with short, quick springs +along the ground, now whirling in great circles round each other, +rolling onward in a spirit-like dance over the turf, now, caught by +an eddy, rising suddenly a hundred feet into the air. Often one wind +witch hooks on to another, twenty more join company, and the whole +gigantic yet airy mass rolls away before the piping east wind. + + + + + THE HIGH WOODS + --CHARLES KINGSLEY + + +My first feeling on entering the high woods was helplessness, +confusion, awe, all but terror. One is afraid at first to venture in +fifty yards. Without a compass or the landmark of some opening to or +from which he can look, a man must be lost in the first ten minutes, +such a sameness is there in the infinite variety. That sameness and +variety make it impossible to give any general sketch of a forest. +Once inside “you can not see the woods for the trees.” You can only +wander on as far as you dare, letting each object impress itself on +your mind as it may, and carrying away a confused recollection of +innumerable perpendicular lines, all straining upward, in fierce +competition, toward the light-food far above; and next on a green +cloud, or rather mist, which hovers round your head, and rises, +thickening and thickening to an unknown height. The upward lines are +of every possible thickness, and of almost every possible hue; what +leaves they bear, being for the most part on the tips of the twigs, +give a scattered, mist-like appearance to the under foliage. For the +first moment, therefore, the forest seems more open than an English +wood. But try to walk through it, and ten steps undeceive you. Around +your knees are probably Mamures, with creeping stems and fan-shaped +leaves, something like those of a young cocoanut palm. You try to +brush among them, and are caught up instantly by a string or wire +belonging to some other plant. You look up and round: and then you +find that the air is full of wires--that you are hung up in a network +of fine branches belonging to half a dozen sorts of young trees, +and intertwined with as many different species of slender creepers. +You thought at your first glance among the tree-stems that you were +looking through open air; you find that you are looking through a +labyrinth of wire-rigging, and must use the cutlass right and left +at every five steps. You push on into a bed of strong sedge-like +Sclerias, with cutting edges to their leaves. It is well for you if +they are only three, and not six, feet high. In the midst of them +you run against a horizontal stick, triangular, rounded, smooth, +green. You take a glance along it right and left, and see no end to +it either way, but gradually discover that it is the leaf-stalk of +a young Cocorite palm. The leaf is five-and-twenty feet long, and +springs from a huge ostrich plume, which is sprawling out of the +ground and up above your head a few yards off. You cut the leaf-stalk +through right and left, and walk on, to be stopped suddenly (for +you get so confused by the multitude of objects that you never see +anything till you run against it) by a gray lichen-covered bar, as +thick as your ankle. You follow it up with your eyes, and find it +entwine itself with three or four other bars, and roll over with +them in great knots and festoons and loops twenty feet high, and +then go up with them into the green cloud over your head and vanish, +as if a giant had thrown a ship’s cables into the tree-tops. One of +them, so grand that its form strikes even the negro and Indian, is +a Liantasse. You see that at once by the form of its cable--six or +eight inches across in one direction, and three or four in another, +furbelowed all down the middle into regular knots, and looking like a +chain cable between two flexible iron bars. At another of the loops, +about as thick as your arm, your companion, if you have a forester +with you, will spring joyfully. With a few blows of his cutlass he +will sever it as high up as he can reach, and again below, some three +feet down; and while you are wondering at this seemingly wanton +destruction, he lifts the bar on high, throws his head back, and +pours down his thirsty throat a pint or more of pure, cold water. +This hidden treasure is, strange as it may seem, the ascending sap, +or, rather, the ascending pure rain-water which has been taken up +by the roots, and is hurrying aloft, to be elaborated into sap, and +leaf, and flower, and fruit and fresh tissue for the stem up which +it originally climbed, and therefore it is that the woodman cuts the +water-vine through first at the top of the piece which he wants and +not at the bottom; for so rapid is the ascent of the sap that if +he cut the stem below the water would have all fled upward before +he could cut it off above. Meanwhile the old story of Jack and the +Beanstalk comes into your mind. In such a forest was the old dame’s +hut, and up such a beanstalk Jack climbed to fight a giant, and a +castle high above. Why not? What may not be up there? You look up +into the green cloud, and long for a moment to be a monkey. There +may be monkeys up there over your head--burly red Howler, or tiny, +peevish Sapajou, peering at you, but you can not peer up at them. The +monkeys and the parrots and the humming-birds and the flowers and all +the beauty are upstairs--up above the green cloud. You are in “the +empty nave of the cathedral,” and “the service is being celebrated +aloft in the blazing roof.” + +We will hope that as you look up you have not been careless enough +to walk on, for if you have you will be tripped up at once; nor to +put your hand out incautiously to rest it against a tree, or what +not, for fear of sharp thorns, ants, and wasps’ nests. If you are all +safe, your next steps, probably, as you struggle through the bush +between tree-trunks of every possible size, will bring you face to +face with huge upright walls of seeming boards, whose rounded edges +slope upward till, as your eye follows them, you find them enter +an enormous stem, perhaps round, like one of the Norman pillars of +Durham nave, and just as huge; perhaps fluted, like one of William +of Wykeham’s columns at Winchester. There is the stem, but where is +the tree? Above the green cloud. You struggle up to it between two +of the board walls, but find it not so easy to reach. Between you +and it are half a dozen tough strings which you had not noticed at +first--the eye can not focus itself rapidly enough in this confusion +of distances--which have to be cut through ere you can pass. Some +of them are rooted in the ground, straight and tense; some of them +dangle and wave in the wind at every height. What are they? Air-roots +of wild pines, or of Matapolos, or of figs, or of Seguines, or of +some other parasite? Probably; but you can not see. All you can see +is, as you put your chin close against the trunk of the tree and look +up, as if you were looking up against the side of a great ship set +on end, that some sixty or eighty feet up in the green cloud arms +as big as English forest trees branch off, and that out of their +forks a whole green garden of vegetation has tumbled down twenty or +thirty feet, and half climbed up again. You scramble round the tree +to find whence this aerial garden has sprung; you can not tell. The +tree-trunk is smooth and free from climbers, and that mass of verdure +may belong possibly to the very cables which you met ascending into +the green cloud twenty or thirty yards back, or to that impenetrable +tangle a dozen yards on, which has climbed a small tree, and then a +taller one again, and then a taller still, till it has climbed out +of sight, and possibly into the lower branches of the big tree. And +what are their species? What are their families? Who knows? Not even +the most experienced woodman or botanist can tell you the names of +plants of which he only sees the stems. The leaves, the flowers, the +fruit, can only be examined by felling the tree; and not even always +then, for sometimes the tree, when cut, refuses to fall, linked as it +is by chains of liane to all the trees around. Even that wonderful +water-vine which we cut through just now may be one of three or even +four different plants. + +Soon you will be struck by the variety of vegetation, and you will +recollect what you have often heard, that social plants are rare +in the tropic forests. Certainly they are rare in Trinidad, where +the only instances of social trees are the Moras (which I have +never seen growing wild) and the Moriche palms. In Europe a forest +is usually made up of one dominant plant--of firs or of pines, of +oaks or of beeches, of birch or of heather. Here no two plants +seem alike. There are more species on an acre here than in all the +New Forest, Savernake, or Sherwood. Stems rough, smooth, prickly, +round, fluted, stilted, upright, sloping, branched, arched, jointed, +opposite-leaved, alternate-leaved, leafless, or covered with leaves +of every conceivable pattern, are jumbled together, till the eye and +brain are tired of continually asking, “What next?” The stems are of +every color, copper, pink, gray, green, brown, black, as if burnt, +marbled with lichens, many of them silvery white, gleaming afar +in the bush, furred with mosses and delicate creeping film-ferns, +or laced with the air-roots of some parasite aloft. Up this stem +scrambles a climbing Seguine with entire leaves; up the next, another +quite different, with deeply cut leaves; up the next, the Ceriman +spreads its huge leaves latticed and forked again and again. So fast +do they grow, that they have not time to fill up the spaces between +their nerves, and are consequently full of oval holes; and so fast +does its spadix of flowers expand, that (as indeed do some other +Aroids) an actual genial heat, and fire of passion, which may be +tested by the thermometer, or even by the hand, is given off during +fructification. Beware of breaking it or the Seguines. They will +probably give off an evil smell, and as probably a blistering milk. +Look on at the next stem. Up it, and down again, a climbing fern, +which is often seen in hothouses, has tangled its finely cut fronds. +Up the next a quite different fern is crawling, by pressing tightly +to the rough bark its creeping root-stalks, furred like a hare’s +leg. Up the next, the prim little Griffechatte plant has walked, +by numberless clusters of small cat’s claws which lay hold of the +bark. And what is this delicious scent about the air? Vanille? Of +course it is; and up that stem zigzags the green fleshy chain of the +Vanille Orchis. The scented pod is far above, out of your reach, but +not out of the reach of the next parrot, or monkey, or negro-hunter +who winds the treasure. And the stems themselves--to what trees +do they belong? It would be absurd for one to try to tell you who +can not tell one-twentieth of them himself. Suffice it to say that +over your head are perhaps a dozen kinds of admirable timber which +might be turned to a hundred uses in Europe, were it possible to get +them thither: your guide will point with pride to one column after +another, straight as those of a cathedral, and sixty to eighty feet +without branch or knob. That, he will say, is Fiddle-wood; that a +Carap; that a cedar; that a Roble (oak); that, larger than all you +have seen yet, a locust; that a Poui; that a Guatecare; that an +Olivier--woods which, he will tell you, are all but incorruptible, +defying weather and insects. He will show you, as curiosities, the +smaller but intensely hard letter wood lignum-vitæ, and purple heart. +He will pass by as useless weeds Ceibas and sandbox-trees, whose bulk +appalls you. He will look up, with something like a malediction, at +the Matapalos, which every fifty yards have seized on mighty trees, +and are enjoying, I presume, every different stage of the strangling +art, from the baby Matapalo, who has let down his first air-root +along his victim’s stem, to the old sinner whose dark crown of leaves +is supported, eighty feet in air, on innumerable branching columns +of every size, cross-clasped to each other by transverse bars. The +giant tree on which his seed first fell has rotted away utterly, and +he stands in its place, prospering in his wickedness, like certain +folk whom David knew too well. Your guide walks on with a sneer, but +he stops with a smile of satisfaction as he sees lying on the ground +dark green glossy leaves, which are fading into a bright crimson, for +overhead somewhere there must be a Balata, the king of the forest; +and there, close by, is his stem--a madder-brown column, whose head +may be a hundred and fifty feet or more aloft. The forester pats the +sides of his favorite tree as a breeder might that of his favorite +race-horse. He goes on to evince his affection, in the fashion of +the West Indians, by giving it a chop with his cutlass, but not in +wantonness. He wishes to show you the hidden virtues of this (in his +eyes) noblest of trees--how there issues out swiftly from the wound +a flow of thick white milk, which will congeal, in an hour’s time, +into a gum intermediate in its properties between caoutchouc and +gutta-percha. He talks of a time when the English gutta-percha market +shall be supplied from the Balatas of the northern hills which can +not be shipped away as timber. He tells you how the tree is a tree +of a generous, virtuous, and elaborate race--“a tree of God, which +is full of sap,” as one said of old of such--and what could he say +better, less or more? For it is a Sapota, cousin to the Sapodilla, +and other excellent fruit-trees, itself most excellent even in its +fruit-bearing power; for every five years it is covered with such a +crop of delicious plums that the lazy negro thinks it worth his while +to spend days of hard work, besides incurring the penalty of the law +(for the trees are government property), in cutting it down for the +sake of its fruit. + +But this tree your guide will cut himself; so he leaves a significant +mark on his new-found treasure and leads you on through the bush, +hewing his way with light strokes right and left, so carelessly +that you are inclined to beg him to hold his hand and not destroy +in a moment things so beautiful, so curious--things which would be +invaluable in an English hothouse. + +And where are the famous orchids? They perch on every bough and +stem; but they are not, with three or four exceptions, in flower in +the winter; and if they were, I know nothing about them--at least I +know enough to know how little I know. Whosoever has read Darwin’s +_Fertilization of Orchids_, and finds in his own reason that the book +is true, had best say nothing about the beautiful monsters till he +has seen with his own eyes more than his master. And yet even the +three or four that are in flower are worth going many a mile to see. +In the hothouse they seem almost artificial from their strangeness; +but to see them “natural,” on natural boughs, gives a sense of their +reality which no unnatural situation can give. Even to look up at +them, as one rides by, and to guess what exquisite and fantastic +forms may issue, in a few months or weeks, out of those fleshy, +often unsightly, leaves, is a strange pleasure--a spur to the fancy +which is surely wholesome, if we will but believe that all these +things were invented by A Fancy, which desires to call out in us, by +contemplating them, such small fancy as we possess; and to make us +poets, each according to his power, by showing a world in which, if +rightly looked at, all is poetry. + +Look here at a fresh wonder. Away in front of us a smooth gray +pillar glistens on high. You can see neither the top nor the bottom +of it. But its color and its perfectly cylindrical shape tell you +what it is--a glorious Palmiste; one of those queens of the forest +which you saw standing in the fields, with its capital buried in the +green cloud and its base buried in that bank of green velvet plumes, +which you must skirt carefully round, for they are a prickly dwarf +palm, called here Black Roseau. Close to it rises another pillar, +as straight and smooth, but one-fourth of the diameter--a giant’s +walking-cane. Its head, too, is in the green cloud. But near are two +or three younger ones only forty or fifty feet high, and you see +their delicate feather heads, and are told that they are Manacques; +the slender nymphs which attend upon the forest queen, as beautiful, +though not as grand, as she. + +The land slopes down fast now. You are tramping through stiff mud, +and those Roseaux are a sign of water. There is a stream or gully +near; and now, for the first time, you can see clear sunshine through +the stems, and see, too, something of the bank of foliage on the +other side of the brook. You catch sight, it may be, of the head of +a tree aloft, blazing with golden trumpet-flowers, which is a Poui; +and of another lower one covered with hoar-frost, perhaps a Croton; +and of another, a giant covered with purple tassels: this is an +Angelim. Another giant overtops even him. His dark, glossy leaves +toss off sheets of silver light as they flicker in the breeze, for +it blows hard aloft outside while you are in stifling calm. That is +a Balata. And what is that on high--twenty or thirty square yards of +rich crimson a hundred feet above the ground? The flowers may belong +to the tree itself. It may be a mountain mangrove, which I have never +seen in flower; but take the glasses and decide. No. The flowers +belong to a liane. The “wonderful” Prince of Wales’s feather has +taken possession of the head of a huge Mombin, and tiled it all over +with crimson combs, which crawl out to the ends of its branches, and +dangle twenty or thirty feet down, waving and leaping in the breeze. +And over all blazes the cloudless blue. + +You gaze astonished. Ten steps downward and the vision is gone. The +green cloud has closed again over your head and you are stumbling +in the darkness of the bush, half blinded by the sudden change from +the blaze to the shade. Beware. “Take care of the Croc-chien!” +shouts your companion; and you are aware of, not a foot from your +face, a long, green, curved whip armed with pairs of barbs some four +inches apart; and are aware also at the same moment that another +has seized you by the arm, another by the knees, and that you must +back out, unless you are willing to part with your clothes first and +your flesh afterward. You back out, and find that you have walked +into the tips--luckily only into the tips--of the fern-like fronds +of a trailing and climbing palm such as you see in the Botanic +Gardens. That came from the East, and furnishes the rattan canes. +This furnishes the gri-gri canes, and is rather worse to meet, if +possible, than the rattan. Your companion, while he helps you to +pick the barbs out, calls the palm laughingly by another name, +“Sueltami-Ingles,” and tells you the old story of the Spanish soldier +at San Josef. You are near the water now, for here is a thicket of +Balisiers. Push through, under their great plantain-like leaves--step +down the muddy bank to that patch of gravel. See first, though, that +it is not tenanted already by a deadly Mapepire, or rattlesnake, +which has not the grace, as his cousin in North America has, to use +his rattle. + +The brooklet, muddy with last night’s rain, is dammed and bridged +by winding roots, in shape like the jointed wooden snakes which we +used to play with as children. They belong probably to a fig, whose +trunk is somewhere up in the green cloud. Sit down on one, and look, +around and aloft. From the soil to the sky, which peeps through here +and there, the air is packed with green leaves of every imaginable +hue and shape. Round our feet are Arums, with snow-white spadixes and +hoods, one instance among many here of brilliant color developing +itself in deep shade. But is the darkness of the forest actually +as great as it seems? Or are our eyes, accustomed to the blaze +outside, unable to expand rapidly enough, and so liable to mistake +for darkness air really full of light reflected downward, again and +again, at every angle, from the glossy surfaces of a million leaves? +At least we may be excused; for a bat has made the same mistake, and +flits past us at noonday. And there is another--no; as it turns, a +blaze of metallic azure off the upper side of the wings proves this +one to be no bat, but a Morpho--a moth as big as a bat. And what was +that second larger flash of golden green, which dashed at the moth +and back to yonder branch not ten feet off? A Jacamar--kingfisher, +as they miscall her here, sitting, fearless of man, with the moth in +her long beak. Her throat is snowy white, her under parts rich red +brown. Her breast and all her upper plumage and long tail glitter +with golden green. There is light enough in this darkness, it seems. +But now look again at the plants. Among the white flowered Arums +are other Arums, stalked and spotted, of which beware; for they are +the poisonous Seguine-diable, the dumb-cane, of which evil tales +were told in the days of slavery. A few drops of its milk, put into +the mouth of a refractory slave, or again into the food of a cruel +master, could cause swelling, choking, and burning agony for many +hours. + +Over our heads bend the great arrow leaves and purple leaf-stalks of +the Tanias; and mingled with them leaves often larger still: oval, +glossy, bright, ribbed, reflecting from their under side a silver +light. They belong to Arumas; and from their ribs are woven the +Indian baskets and packs. Above these, again, the Balisiers bend +their long leaves, eight or ten feet long apiece; and under the shade +of the leaves their gay flower-spikes, like double rows of orange +and black birds’ beaks upside down. Above them, and among them, rise +stiff, upright shrubs, with pairs of pointed leaves, a foot long some +of them, pale green above, and yellow or fawn-colored beneath. You +may see, by the three longitudinal nerves in each leaf, that they +are Melastomas of different kinds--a sure token that you are in the +tropics--a probable token that you are in tropical America. + +And over them, and among them, what a strange variety of foliage. +Look at the contrast between the Balisiers and that branch which has +thrust itself among them, which you take for a dark, copper-colored +fern, so finely divided are its glossy leaves. What a contrast +again, the huge feathery fronds of the Cocorite palms which stretch +right away hither over our heads, twenty and thirty feet in length. +And what is that spot of crimson flame hanging in the darkest spot of +all from an under bough of that low, weeping tree? A flower head of +the Rosa del Monte. And what that bright, straw-colored fox’s brush +above it, with a brown hood like that of an Arum, brush and hood nigh +three feet long each? Look--for you require to look more than once, +sometimes more than twice--here, up the stem of that Cocorite, or +as much of it as you can see in the thicket. It is all jagged with +the brown butts of its old fallen leaves; and among the butts perch +broad-leaved ferns and fleshy orchids, and above them, just below the +plume of mighty fronds, the yellow fox’s brush, which is its spathe +of flower. + +What next? Above the Corcorites dangle, amid a dozen different +kinds of leaves, festoons of a liane, or of two, for one has purple +flowers, the other yellow--Bignonias, Bauhinias--what not? And +through them a Carat palm has thrust its thin, bending stem and +spread out its flat head of fan-shaped leaves twenty feet long each: +while over it, I verily believe, hangs eighty feet aloft the head of +the very tree upon whose roots we are sitting. For amid the green +cloud you may see sprigs of leaf somewhat like that of a weeping +willow; and there, probably, is the trunk to which they belong, +or rather what will be a trunk at last. At present it is like a +number of round edged boards of every size, set on end, and slowly +coalescing at their edges. There is a slit down the middle of the +trunk, twenty or thirty feet long. You may see the green light of the +forest shining through it. Yes, that is probably the fig; or, if not, +then something else. For who am I, that I should know the hundredth +part of the forms on which we look? + +And above all you catch a glimpse of that crimson mass of Norantea +which we admired just now; and, black as yew against the blue sky +and white cloud, the plumes of one Palmiste, who has climbed toward +the light, it may be for centuries, through the green cloud; and +now, weary and yet triumphant, rests her dark head among the bright +foliage of a Ceiba, and feeds unhindered on the sun. + +There, take your tired eyes down again; and turn them right or left, +where you will, to see the same scene, and yet never the same. New +forms, new combinations; wealth of creative Genius--let us use the +wise old word in its true sense--incomprehensible by the human +intellect or the human eye, even as He is who made it all, whose +garment, or rather whose speech, it is. + + + + + MILK-SAP PLANTS + --M. J. SCHLEIDEN + + +All the plants which count caoutchouc among their products belong to +the torrid zone. A. von Humboldt, in his _Ideas of a Geography of +Plants_, remarked that the plants yielding _milky_ juices multiply as +we approach the tropics. This _milky juice_ of plants it is which +contains the peculiar elastic substance. The tropical heat seems +to exert a distinct influence in its perfect formation, for it has +been remarked that the same plants which under the equator yield +abundance of caoutchouc contain instead, with us, even in hothouses, +a substance which resembles the bird-lime obtained from our native +mistletoe. + +Who among my readers has not seen our indigenous wolf’s-milk +or spurge, the white milky juice of which popular superstition +recommends as a remedy against warts? Who has not in youth at least +become acquainted with the celandine, from the broken stalk and leaf +of which a bright orange-colored juice runs out? Who has not observed +that the lettuce, when it has run up to flower, ejects a milk-white +fluid at the slightest touch? But the occurrence of milky juices in +plants is not limited to these few. The vegetable world presents to +us most useful as well as poisonous matters in this milky sap, and I +will content myself at present with recalling to recollection opium, +the dried milky juice of our large garden poppy. + +A great number of plants, which principally belong to three great +families, namely, the Spurges, the Apocynoceæ, and the Nettle plants, +are distinguished by a peculiar anatomical structure. In their bark, +and also partly in their pith, we find a quantity of long, variously +curved and branched tubes, which are not unlike the veins of animals. +In these tubes we find a thick juice of the consistence of very rich +milk, whence it is called milk-sap. Its color is usually milk-white, +but yellow, red, and, very rarely, blue milk-saps are met with, +but more frequently still they are wholly colorless. Like animal +milk, this juice consists of a colorless fluid and small globules. +The composition displays the most varied constituents, and upon the +variation of quantity and modes of mixture of these matters depend +the abundant varieties of this juice. All contain more or less +caoutchouc, which occurs in the form of little globules. These are +prevented from coalescing by an albuminous substance, in the same +way as are the butter globules in milk. Exactly like the cream (the +butter) in milk, the caoutchouc globules rise to the surface of the +milk-sap of plants when left to stand, here form a cream, and can +not, any more than butter, be separated again into their distinct +globules. + +All those three great families which are distinguished by their +abundance of milk-sap, although differing very widely botanically, +exhibit some most remarkable agreements through the nature of their +milk-sap. + +The spurges or Euphorbiaceæ constitute the most important group in +reference to the amount of caoutchouc contained. From the Port of +Para in South America, from Guiana, and the neighboring states, an +incredible quantity of India-rubber is shipped for Europe, and this +is principally obtained from a large tree growing in those regions, +called the Siphonia elastica. That beautiful tree, the Siphonia, is +about sixty feet high, and has a smooth brownish-gray bark, in which +the Indians make long and deep incisions down to the wood, from +whence the white juice then abundantly flows forth. + +Many other plants of this group contain caoutchouc, but from none is +it so easy to obtain in large quantity. Though the sap of Siphonia is +at least harmless, though the juice of the Tabayba dolce (Euphorbia +balsamifera) is even similar to sweet milk and, thickened into a +jelly, eaten as a delicacy by the inhabitants of the Canary Islands, +as Leopold von Buch relates in his interesting description of the +Canaries; yet most of the plants of this group are to be counted +among the suspicious, or even most actively poisonous, on account +of this very juice. And yet, strangely enough, they also furnish +a most wholesome food, which we have scarcely anything to compare +with. Throughout all the hotter part of America the culture of the +mandioc-root (Jatropha Manihot) is one of the most important branches +of husbandry. The native savages and the Europeans, the black slave +and free man of color alike substitute for our white bread and rice +the tapioca and the Mandiocca farinha, or Cassava-meal, and the +cakes prepared from it (_pan de tierra caliente_ of the Mexicans). +The sweet yucca (Yuca dulce), which is the name applied there to the +mandioc plant, must be distinguished from the sour or bitter kind +(Yuca amara). The former, which is therefore cultivated with great +care, may be eaten at once without danger; while the latter, eaten +fresh, is an active poison. They serve the uncivilized son of the +South American tropics for food. + +The sated savage saunters round to seek a new sleeping-place, but +woe to him! inadvertently he has prepared his couch beneath the +dreadful manchineel (Hippomane Mancinella), and in a sudden shower +the rain drips from its leaves upon him. In frightful pain he wakes +up, covered with blisters and ulcers, and if he escapes with life, +he is at least the richer of a fearful experience of the poisonous +properties of the Euphorbiaceæ. But this will seldom happen to a +native; the manchineel is avoided in America with the same mysterious +and almost superstitious awe as the fabulous poison-tree in Java. +Happily, the trumpet-tree (Bignonia leucoxylon), the sap of which +is the surest antidote against the manchineel, usually rears its +beautiful purple blossoms close at hand, the constant companion of +that dangerous Euphorbiacean. + +The planter of the Cape strews over pieces of flesh the pounded fruit +of a plant that grows there (Hyænanche globosa), and lays them as an +infallible poison for the hyena. The wild inhabitants of southern +Africa, according to Bruce, poison their arrows with a spurge +(Euphorbia caput Medusæ). Virey states that the Ethiopians make a +similar application of others (Euphorbia heptagona, Euphorbia virosa, +Euphorbia cereiformis), while the savages of the most southern part +of America use the sap of a third (Euphorbia cotinifolia). Nay, even +our seemingly so innocent box, which also belongs to this family, +is so injurious that in places in Persia, where it much abounds, no +camels can be kept, because it is impossible to prevent their feeding +on this plant, which is deadly to them. I can not take leave of this +family without mentioning a remarkable phenomenon, reported to us by +Martius, in that work so full of information, his _Travels Through +Brazil_. A spurge grows there (Euphorbia phosphorea), the milk of +which, when it flows forth from the stem in the dark, hot summer +nights, emits a bright phosphoric light. + +While the family just alluded to, the blossoms being generally +insignificant, attract the attention of our horticulturists almost +solely through their strange forms, which, in some of them, approach +to those of the cactus plants, the family of the Apocynaceæ is, +on the contrary, a rich ornament of our gardens and hothouses, +on account of the wonderful beauty of its blossoms, and is often +still more attractive from the remarkable structure of the flowers, +and the aberrant, also cactus-like form of the plant itself. What +lover of flowers knows not the splendid blossom of the species of +Carissa, Allamanda, Thevetia, Cerbera, Plumieria, Vinca, Nervium, +and Gelsemium; the strange stalk and toad-colored, ill-smelling +flowers of the Stapelia? But this family is not less interesting in +other respects. The best caoutchouc at present known, that from Pulo +Penang, comes from a plant of this family (Cynanchum ovalifolium). +Also that from Sumatra (Urceola elastica), from Madagascar (Vahea +gummifera), a part of the Brazilian Collophora utilis and Hancornia +speciosa, and the East Indian Willughbeia edulis are obtained from +plants which belong to the group of Apocynaceæ. + +Most strangely, this family also, as well as the following and +last, exhibits the peculiar phenomenon which was described in the +first-named, the Euphorbiaceæ, namely, that the milk-sap is in some +species rich in India-rubber, in others it is tempered into a clear, +agreeably smelling and wholesome milk, while in certain others, on +the contrary, this fluid grows, step by step, through successively +increasing quantity of noxious matter to a most dreadful poison. +In the forests of British Guiana grows a tree which the natives +call Hya-Hya (Tabernæmontana utilis). Its bark and pith are so rich +in milk that an only moderate-sized stem, which Arnott and his +companions felled on the bank of a large forest brook, in the course +of an hour colored the water quite white and milky. This milk is +perfectly harmless, of a pleasant flavor, and is taken by the savages +as a refreshing drink. Still more pleasant must be the taste of the +milk of the Ceylon cow-tree, the Kiriaghuma (Gymneura lactiferum), +which, according to Burmann’s narrative, the Cingalese use exactly as +we do milk. + +Dreadful, on the contrary, is the action of the terrible wourali +poison, which the inhabitants of the banks of the Orinoco concoct +with mystic conjurations, the chief ingredients of which are +furnished by the juice of a plant belonging here (Echites suberecta) +and the bark of another, likewise an Apocynaceous tree, Strychnos +guinanensis and Strychnos toxifera. The North Americans also use an +Apocynaceous plant (Gonolobium macrophyllum) to poison their arrows; +and Mungo Park related the like of the Mandingoes of the Niger +(according to him it is a species of Echites). + +Many allied plants are among the most active poisons (Cerbera +Thevetia and Cerbera Ahovai), and the seeds of this group, in +particular, are almost more remarkable for their deadliness than +those of the foregoing, for two of the most violent vegetable +poisons, strychnine and brucine, occur in them. Some of our most +active medicinal substances are especially known on this account; for +instance, the St. Ignatius’s beans (Ignatia amara from Manila), and +the Nux vomica (Strychnos nux Vomica), distributed throughout the +tropics. + +It would not be difficult to make some of the more important +characters of the two families I have mentioned so clear, even to a +person unacquainted with botany, that he would be enabled readily to +distinguish any plant belonging to them. Very different is it with +the following, the last group, the Jussieuan family of nettle-plants, +or Urticaceæ. The plants belonging to this vary in the most striking +manner in their external forms, from the smallest, most insignificant +weeds, like our common pellitory of the wall and our nettles, to +vast and stately trees like the breadfruits (Artocarpus integrifolia +and incisa), which, with their wide-stretched branches and broad, +beautifully formed leaves, overshadow the huts of the South Sea +Islander, who lives upon their savory fruit. As in the family of +the spurges, only some few plants bestow in their seed a pleasant +nut-like kernel (as Aleurites triloba in the Moluccas, Conceveiba +guianensis in South America); as in the Apocynaceous group, several +trees afford cooling, juicy, and therefore highly valued fruits +to the inhabitants of hot regions (Carissa Carandas in the East +Indies, Carissa edulis in Arabia, etc.), so the family of the +Urticaceæ includes the strangest multiplicity of fructifications. The +little oil grains of the hemp, the green grape-like bunches which +gracefully adorn the slender twining hop, the aromatic mulberry, +the sweet fig, the useful bread-fruit, all those so various forms +belong to one group of plants, and the botanist traces in all the +same fundamental structure, however incongruous these manifold shapes +may appear to the eye of the uninitiated. One peculiarity alone +extends without exception throughout all the species of this large +order, namely, the presence of fine but strong bass-fibres in the +bark. The German name for muslin, Nessel-tuch (nettle-cloth), denotes +the source from whence the fibre of which it is made was originally +obtained (Urtica cannabina), and the skilful industry of the gentle +Tahitan prepares the most delicate stuff, without spinning-wheel +or loom, from the fine white bass of the auté of paper-mulberry +(Broussonetia papyrifera). + +An elegant tree, allied to the last, the Holquahuitl of the Mexicans, +or Ule di Papantla of the Spaniards (Castilloa elastica Deppe), +furnishes the caoutchouc of New Spain, and the inconceivable +quantities of this substance which are brought to our ports from the +East Indies are collected in great part from the venerable fig-trees +in which that Asiatic tropical world is so rich. On a trunk of giant +girth, but seldom more than fifteen feet high, rests the enormous +crown of the banyan, or holy fig (Ficus religiosa); the branches +often run a hundred feet horizontally out from the trunk, sending +down to the ground, at various intervals, long straight roots, which +quickly penetrate and take firm hold, thus becoming props to the long +branches. These wonderful trees, each one resembling a small wood, +are dedicated to the god Fo, and the helpless, lazy Bonze builds his +hut, not unlike a bird-cage, in its branches, in which he passes the +day, sometimes asleep, sometimes dreaming in contemplative indolence +in the pleasant cool shade. These great fig-trees (Ficus religiosa, +indica, benjaminea, elastica) have sweet fruits, and their milk-sap +contains the interesting caoutchouc. Some of these plants also yield +a harmless juice. By far the most remarkable in this respect is +the Palo de Vacca or Arbol de Leche, the cow-tree of South America +(Galactodendron utile), which was first made known to us by Alexander +von Humboldt. When a tolerably large incision is made into the trunk +of this tree, a white, oily, fragrant, and sweet fluid, very similar +to animal milk, flows out in sufficient quantity to refresh and +satisfy the hunger of several persons. + +A striking contrast to this is afforded by the properties of other +nettle-plants. One is tempted to call them the serpents of the +vegetable kingdom; and the parallel is not difficult to carry out. +The similarity between the instruments with which both produce and +poison their wounds is very remarkable. The snakes have in the front +of the upper jaw two long, thin, somewhat curved teeth, which are +perforated lengthwise by a minute canal, which opens in front at the +sharp point. These teeth are not fixed firmly in the jaw like the +others, but movable, like, but in a less degree, the claws of a cat. +Beneath each tooth, in a cavity in the jaw, lies a little gland, in +which the poison is prepared, and the excretory duct of this gland +runs through the canal in the tooth, and opens at its apex. When +the animal bites, the resistance of the bitten body pushes back the +tooth, so that it presses upon the gland, which squeezes out of it +the deadly fluid into the wound. If we examine, now, the hairs on the +leaf of the nettle, we find a wonderful agreement. The stinging hair +consists of a single cell, terminating above in a little knob. Below, +it expands into a small sac, which contains the irritating juice. + +The slightest touch breaks off the brittle point with the little +knob, the canal of the hair is thus opened, and it penetrates any +soft substance; in consequence of the pressure which the resistance +to its entry exerts upon the sac, a portion of the poisonous juice +is ejected out into the wound. The poisons of our native nettles and +snakes are not of much consequence, but the nearer we approach the +tropics, the more frequent and more deadly they both become. Where +the glowing Indian sun ripens the poison of the fearful spectacle +snake, there grow the most dangerous nettles. + +Every one among us has felt the slight but irritating sting of the +nettle which it produces by its slender poisonous hair, but we have +no notion of the torture which its near allies (Urtica stimulaus, +Urtica crenulata) produce in the East Indies. A gentle touch suffices +to cause the arm to swell up with the most frightful pain, and the +suffering lasts for weeks; nay, a species growing in Timor (Urlica +urentissima) is called by the natives Daoun Setan (devil’s leaf), +because the pain lasts for years, and often even death can only be +avoided by the amputation of the injured limb. + +We do, indeed, find many violent poisons in this family, and even +some species of fig are included among the most dangerous plants +(Ficus toxicaria), but it is not worth while to linger among those +of lesser importance. The tales recounted of the Upas and the +Poison-valley mingle almost like a dark and gloomy legend in our +knowledge of the East Indian islands. + +In the Sixteenth Century stories circulated about the macassar +poison-tree of the Celebes; and physicians and naturalists came +gradually to tell of the action of the poison, the descriptions of +which had become so terrible that if the smallest quantity entered +the blood, not only immediate death resulted, but its action was so +fearfully destructive that within half an hour afterward the flesh +fell from the bones. From Rumph we learned that the poison-tree is +also met with in Sumatra, Borneo, and Bali, as well as in Celebes. +But the Dutch surgeon, Försch, first spread the wild tales of the +poison-tree of Java about the end of the Eighteenth Century. + +Two very different trees grow in those little visited primeval +forests of Java. All the paths leading to them are closed and +watched, like those leading to the gates of the Holy of Holies. +With fire and axe must the road be made through the impenetrably +interwoven mass of lianes, the paullinias, with their clusters of +great scarlet blossoms several feet long, the cissi or wild vines, +on the widespread creeping roots of which thrives the gigantic +flower of the Rafflesia Arnoldi. Palms, with spines and thorns, +rush-like plants with cutting leaves, wounding like knives, warn the +intruder back by their attacks, and in every part of the thicket +threaten the fearful nettles formerly mentioned. Great black ants, +whose painful bite tortures the wanderer, and countless swarms of +tormenting insects pursue him. Are these obstacles overcome? Yet +follow the dense bundles of bamboo stems, as thick as a man’s arm, +and often fifty feet high, the firm glassy bark of which repels even +the axe. At last the way is opened and the majestic aisles of the +true primeval forest now display themselves. Gigantic trunks of the +bread-fruit, of the iron-like teak (Tectona grandis), of Leguminosæ, +with their beautiful blossoms, of Barringtonias, figs, and bays, form +the columns which support the massive green vault. From branch to +branch leap lively troops of apes, provoking the wanderer by throwing +fruit upon him. From a moss-clad rock the melancholy orang-outang +raises himself gravely on his staff, and wanders into deeper +thickets. All is full of animal life; a strong contrast to the desert +and silent character of many of the primeval forests of America. Here +a twining, climbing shrub, with a trunk as thick as one’s arm, coils +round the columns of the dome, overpassing the loftiest trees, often +quite simple and unbranched for a length of a hundred feet from the +root, but curved and winding in the most varied forms. The large, +shining green leaves alternate with the long and stout tendrils +with which it takes firm hold, and greenish-white heads of pleasant +smelling flowers hang pendent from it. This plant, belonging to the +Apocynaceæ, is the Tjettek of the natives (Strychnos Tieute), from +the roots of which the dreadful Upas Radia, or Sovereign Poison, is +concocted. A slight wound from a weapon poisoned with this--a little +arrow made of hard wood, and shot from the blow-tube, as by the South +Americans--makes the tiger tremble, stand motionless a minute, then +fall as though seized with vertigo, and die in brief but violent +convulsions. The shrub itself is harmless, and he whose skin may +have been touched with its juice need fear no consequences. As we +go forward, we meet with a beautiful slender stem, which overtops +the neighboring plants. Perfectly cylindrical, it rises sixty or +eighty feet, smooth and without a branch, and bears an elegant +hemispherical crown, which proudly looks down on the more humble +growths around, and the many climbers struggling up its stem. Woe to +him who heedlessly should touch the milk-sap that flows abundantly +from its easily wounded bark. Large blisters, painful ulcers, like +those produced by our poisonous sumach, only more dangerous, are the +inevitable consequences. This is the Antiar of the Javanese, the +Pohon Upas (signifying poison-tree) of the Malays, the Ipo of Celebes +and the Philippines (Antiaris toxicaria). + + + + + NUTS + --GRANT ALLEN + + +On the wooded slope where the park shelves slowly toward the Bourne +Brook, the ground to-day (October) is thickly strewn in many places +with the sharp, prickly husks and small, barren, angular nutlets +of the beautiful Spanish chestnuts. They are not truly indigenous +to Britain, these noble spreading forest trees, though they have +been planted so long in our pleasure grounds and lawns that we have +got to look upon them almost as naturalized British subjects; and +the climate, though it suits the leaves and wood well enough, is +not sufficiently kindly to ripen the fruits in due season; they +are almost always mere empty, shriveled shells here in England, so +that we have to import seed for sowing from the mountain regions +of Southern Europe. There we have all seen them growing in their +own wild luxuriance on the lower escarpments of the Alps or the +Apennines, and bringing forth fertile nuts sufficient to feed half +the teeming population of the Lombard plain in seasons of scarcity. +Side by side with them in the park here, the boys are impartially +shying sticks at the very similar, though wholly unrelated, clusters +of the common horse-chestnuts, which, in spite of their close +external likeness, belong in reality to a totally different and much +more restricted family. The true chestnut is a catkin bearer, a near +relation of the English oak, as one might almost guess at sight from +its foliage and habit; the horse-chestnut is a member of a tribe +unrepresented in our native English flora, but not very unlike the +maples and sycamores in its principal characters. It is interesting +to note how in the case of these two wholly different and originally +dissimilar trees similarity of circumstances has at last produced +such great similarity of adaptive peculiarities. + +The key to this strange resemblance between the chestnut and +the horse-chestnut is to be found in the fact that they are both +_nuts_--they have survived in the struggle for existence by adopting +for their seed-vessels the exactly opposite tactics from those +adopted by the true fruits. A fruit, as we have often seen, is a +seed-vessel which lays itself out, by all the allurements of bright +color, sweet scent, sugary juices, and nutritive properties, to +attract animals who will aid it by swallowing it, and so eventually +dispersing its seeds. But a nut is a seed-vessel which, on the +contrary, being richly supplied with starches and oils for the supply +of the young plantlet, would be injured and diverted from its real +intent and purport if it were to be eaten and digested by any animal. +Accordingly, nuts have concentrated all their efforts upon repelling +rather than attracting the attention of animals; or, to put it in +a more strictly physical way, those nuts which have happened to +be least attractive in color and most protected by hairs, spines, +prickles, or bitter juices have best succeeded in escaping the +attacks of animals, and so have prospered best in the struggle for +existence. Thus, to drop into metaphor once more, while the fruits +want to be eaten, the nut, on the contrary, wants to escape. + +We may take the chestnut as a very good example of the general result +which the necessity for protection usually produces in these peculiar +seed-vessels. While it still grows on the tree the entire fruit +is green and unobtrusive, hardly noticeable at a little distance +among the heavy foliage which covers it on every side. Compare this +shrinking and secretive habit with the brilliancy and vividness of +oranges and mangoes, or even with our own bright-colored northern +rose-hips, and haws, and mountain ashes, and holly-berries. Again, +instead of being smooth skinned and soft, like these bird-enticing +fruits, the outer rind of the chestnut is rough and repellent +with serried prickles, which rudely wound the tender nose of the +too inquisitive squirrel, or even the feathery cheeks of the more +protected nut-hatch. Once more, when the separate nuts inside have +fallen out upon the ground, they are no longer green like the foliage +upon the tree, but light brown or “chestnut,” like the dead leaves +and withered bracken into whose midst they have gently fallen. +Chestnuts themselves are apparently sufficiently protected by these +devices of color and prickliness; they do not seem further to require +the special nut-like covering of a hard and woody shell; but the +filbert, which suffers far more from the depredations of dormice, +squirrels, nut-hatches, and other birds or mammals, has not only +incased itself without in a green husk covered by sharp and annoying +little hairs, but has also acquired a very solid and difficult shell, +which often succeeds in baffling even the keen teeth or beaks of its +persistent and aggressive animal foes. + +Indeed, even among British nuts, one may trace a regular gradation +(not, of course, genealogical) from the softest and least protected +to the hardest and most defensive kinds. The acorn, produced in vast +numbers by a very large and long-lived tree, the oak, has hardly +any need of a strong outer coat of armor, especially as its kernel +is rather bitter and far from attractive to most animals, though it +still feeds a considerable legion of hoarding squirrels, and must +once have been munched in immense quantities by the native wild +boars, or their mediæval successors, the half-tamed forest swine. In +the beech, the shell of the actual nut itself is merely leathery; +but the outer coat or involucre is sprinkled over with distinctly +protective prickles. (It is worth while to note in passing that the +beechnuts or mast rarely contain a kernel in Britain--in other words, +they are almost always sterile; whereas in other countries where the +beeches are more sturdy, the nuts are usually fertile; and this fact +may be put side by side with the corelative fact that the beech is +a decadent tree in England, where it was once dominant, but is now +rapidly dying out before our very eyes, at least in its indigenous +form.) In the lime, the very small nut has a decided shell, while +its globular shape also makes it difficult for quadrupeds to open +with their paws and teeth. Finally, in the hazel, the filbert has a +very hard integument indeed, and a disagreeable, husky covering of +smarting hairs. + +Our own English nuts are only exposed to the attacks of extremely +small and comparatively harmless mammals, or of inconsiderable native +birds; and, therefore, their defensive tactics have never been +carried any further than in the case of the hedgerow filbert. But in +southern climates, and especially in the tropics, nuts are exposed +to far larger and more dangerous forestine foes, like the monkeys +and parrots, against whose teeth or bills, as we all know, even +the solid shell of the Barcelona cob is absolutely no protection. +Hence, under these circumstances, only the very hardest or most +disagreeable nuts have been able to survive and to grow up in due +time into flourishing nut-trees. Sometimes, as in the walnut, the +chief protection is afforded by a nauseous outer rind--a system which +reaches its climax in the South American cashews, whose pungent juice +blisters the skin like a cantharides plaster; sometimes, as in the +cocoanut, it is afforded by great thickness and hardness of shell, +which sets at naught the most persistent endeavors of the hungry +aggressor. In the Brazil nut, a number of sharp, angular nuts are +crowded together inside a large and hard outside shell, so that even +after the monkey has managed to crack the big outer nut, he has still +to open all the inside nuts one by one in detail. It is worth while +to notice, too, that an exactly similar modification is undergone in +the tropics by the stones of stone-fruits; which are really nuts in +disguise, covered only by a soft, sweet pulp that entices animals +to aid in dispersing them, by dropping the hard seed on to the +ground in favorable spots for its growth. In temperate climates the +stones are only hard enough to defy squirrels and birds: in tropical +countries they are hard enough to defy monkeys and parrots. Compare, +for example, the English sloe or bird-cherry with the peach-stone, +and the English haw with the mango or vegetable ivory. This last nut +is one of the oddest in the whole range of nature, for it is here +the actual kernel itself that grows so hard and horny. Yet even the +vegetable ivory, which consists really of very solid starchy cells, +softens and yields up its material to the growing plant as soon as +the embryo it incloses begins to sprout under the influence of warmth +and moisture. + + + + + THE CACTUS TRIBE + --M. J. SCHLEIDEN + + +Let us leave the forest of Guiana, the last mat-roof of the Guaranese +between the trunks of the Mauritius palm, and enter the pampas of +Venezuela, of which Humboldt has sketched such a clever and vivid +picture. No smiling verdure clothes the glowing rock-soil here; +here and there in its crevices the Melocactus displays its round +balls, “horrid” with threatening thorns. Ascend we thence the Andes; +instead of tender grass, the earth is covered with pale, gray-green +globes of spiny Mamillarias, while, intermingled, rises the solemn +and mournful old-man cactus, with its venerable-looking long gray +hair. Borne on the wings of fancy further north, we descend into +the plains of Mexico, where the gigantic fragments of the city of +the Aztecs, a product of a solitary era of civilization long lost +to history, display themselves; the landscape spreads out before us +as the bare and naked Tierra caliente, parched by the glowing sun; +of a dull green hue, without a branch or leaf, the angled-columns +of the torch-thistles rise twenty or thirty feet high, hemmed in +with an impenetrable thicket of irritably pricking Indian figs, +while round about appear the strangest, ugliest forms, in the +groups of the Echinocacti and little Cerei, between which creeps +snake-like, or as some great poisonous reptile, the long, dry stem +of the great flowered cactus (Cereus nycticallus). In short, one +family accompanies us through all our wanderings, that of the cactus +plants, which seems in all its wondrous forms to withdraw itself +entirely from the principle of beauty, and yet at the same time +presses forward so strikingly, so determinately marking the peculiar +character of the landscape, that we are compelled to turn our +attention to it. And in truth, a group which appears to retreat so +far from all the laws of other plants deserves our interest in a very +high degree. + +Everything about these plants is wonderful. With the exception of +the genus Peireskia, no plant of the order possesses leaves. Those +parts of Cactus alatus, and the Indian fig, which are commonly called +leaves, are nothing but flattened expansions of the stem. On the +other hand, they are all distinguished by an extraordinarily fleshy +stem, which, clothed by a grayish-green, leathery cuticle, and +beset, in the places where leaves are situated in regular plants, +with various tufts of hair, spines, and points, gives by its very +varied degrees of development the varied character of the plants. The +torch-thistles rise in form of nine-angled or often round columns to +a height of thirty or forty feet, mostly branchless, but sometimes +ramifying in the strangest ways, and looking like candelabra; the +Indian figs are more humble; their oval, flat branches, arranged +upon one another on all sides, produce special forms. The lowest +and thickest torch-thistles connect themselves with hedgehog and +melon-cacti, with their projecting ribs, and thus lead us to the +almost perfectly globular Mamillarias, which are covered very +regularly with fleshy warts of various heights. Finally, there are +forms in which the growth in the longitudinal direction prevails, +which with long, thin, often whip-like stems, like those of the +serpent-cactus, hang down from the trees upon which they live as +parasites. + +Few families have so limited a range of distribution upon the globe. +All the species of cactus, perhaps without a single exception, are +indigenous in America, between the parallels of 40° S. lat. and 40° +N. lat. But some of them were so rapidly distributed through the +Old World directly after the discovery of America, that they may +almost be looked upon as fully naturalized there. Almost all delight +in a dry situation, exposed to the burning rays of the sun, which +contrasts strangely with their fleshy tissue, tumid with watery and +not unpleasantly flavored with acid juice. This peculiarity gives +them inestimable value to the fainting traveler, and Bernardin de +St. Pierre has aptly called them the “Springs of the Desert.” The +wild ass of the llanos, too, knows well how to avail himself of +these plants. In the dry season, when all animal life flees from the +glowing pampas, when cayman and boa sink into death-like sleep in +the dried-up mud, the wild ass alone, traversing the steppe, knows +how to guard against thirst; cautiously stripping off the dangerous +spines of the Melocactus with his hoof, and then in safety sucking +the cooling vegetable juice. In vertical extension, the cacti are +not confined within such narrow limits, and they stretch from the +lowest tracts along the coast, through the vast plains, up to the +highest ridges of the Andes chain. On the shore of Lake Titicaca, +12,700 feet above the level of the sea, are seen the tall-stemmed +Peireskias with their splendid deep brown-red blossoms, and on the +plateaus of southern Peru, near the limit of vegetation, therefore +about 14,000 feet high, the wanderer is surprised by peculiar shapes +of a yellowish-red color, which at a distance look like reposing +savages, but which a closer inspection reveals to be shapeless heaps +of low cacti, closely beset with yellowish-red spines. + +What Nature has withheld, however, in external aspect, she has, in +most, richly replaced in the magnificent blossom. We are astonished +to find the deformed gray-green mass of the Mamillaria decked with +the most beautiful purple-red flowers. Strange is the contrast +between the wretched and gloomy aspect of the naked, dry stem of +the large-flowered torch-thistle (Cereus grandiflorus), and its +large, splendid, Isabel-colored,[8] vanilla-scented, flowers, which, +unfolding under cover of the silent night, beam like suns, and in the +wonderful sporting of their stamens, seem almost to strive toward a +higher--an animal life. + +But it is not the beauty of the blossom alone which gladdens us, +not the refreshing sap alone that revives the languishing traveler. +The economic uses are also manifold. Almost all the cacti bear +edible fruit, and a portion of them are among the most delightful +refreshments of the hot zones which ripen them. Almost all the +Opuntias, known by the name of Indian figs, furnish, in the West +Indies and Mexico, a favorite dessert fruit, and even the little +rose-red berries of the Mamillarias, which with us are tasteless, +have, beneath the tropics, a pleasant, acidulated, sweet juice. We +may say, in general terms, that their fruit is a nobler form of our +native gooseberry and currant, to which also they are the nearest +allies in a botanical point of view. Succulent as is the stem of +most of the cacti, yet, in the course of time, they perfect in it +a wood as firm as it is light. This is especially the case in the +tall columnar species of cereus, the old dead stems of which, after +the decay of the gray-green rind, remain erect, their white wood +standing ghost-like among the living stems, till a benighted traveler +seizes it in that scantily wooded region, to make a fire to protect +him from the mosquitoes, to bake his maize-cake, or burns it as a +torch to light up the dark tropical night. It is from the last use +that they have obtained the name of torch-thistles. These stems, on +account of their lightness, are carried up on mules to the heights +of the Cordilleras, to serve as beams, posts, and door-sills in the +houses; as, for instance, in the mayoral of Antisana, perhaps the +highest inhabited spot in the world (12,604 feet). Just as their +allies, the gooseberry bushes, are used by our country people to +form hedges to their gardens, are the Opuntias in Mexico, on the +west coast of South America and in the southern part of Europe, and +with greater success in the Canaries; their firm, shapeless branches +soon interweave themselves into an impenetrable barrier, opposing, +by their dreadful spines, an insuperable obstacle to the intruder. +Lastly, the medicine-chest does not go away empty, for the physicians +of America make abundant use of the acid juice for fomentations in +inflammations, not to mention some other prescriptions. + +In the same way that grass and clover are not immediately valuable +to man, but serve as food for useful animals, so it is with a number +of cacti, which support an insect of extraordinary importance. This +is the cochineal insect (Coccus Cacti), a little, very insignificant +creature, externally just like the little, white, cottony parasite, +which is so often found upon the plants in our hothouses, and yet, +through the invaluable coloring matter it contains, so infinitely +different from it. + +While the ugly form, the splendor of the blossom, and the manifold +uses of the cactus plants attract general interest in a high +degree, they are not less interesting, in a narrower sphere, to the +botanist. Zoologists have at all times found in the examination of +monstrosities and aberrant forms rich material toward the clearing +and expanding of their knowledge of the regularly developing +organism. It is to be expected, therefore, that similar conditions +will have similar value in the vegetable world; and what family could +be better selected for this purpose than the Cactaceæ, which seems +to be but a natural museum of monstrosities, where the forms are, in +some cases, so abnormal that no other name could be thought of for +one species but that of the deformed cactus (Cereus monstrosus)? + +It is believed that from the vast amount of watery juice in the +cactus tribe, joined to the fact that most of them, and exactly +those richest in sap, vegetate on dry sand, almost wholly devoid of +vegetable mould, where they are besides exposed often three-fourths +of the year to the parching sunbeams of an eternally serene sky; from +this combination of circumstances, even, it is thought that we may +the more safely conclude that these plants draw their nourishment +from the air, since in our own hothouses also it has been observed +that the branches of cactus stems cut off and left forgotten in a +corner without further care, far from dying, have frequently grown on +and made shoots three feet long or more. De Candolle first found the +right path when he weighed such cactus shoots which had grown without +soil, and found that the plant, though larger, was always lighter, +therefore, instead of abstracting anything from the atmosphere, must +rather have given up something to it. All the growth takes place, +in such cases, at the expense of the nutritive matter previously +accumulated in the juicy tissue, and it generally exhausts the plant +to such a degree that it is no longer worth preserving. It is that +succulent tissue which enables the cactus plants--one might compare +them with the camels--to provide themselves beforehand with fluid, +and thus to brave the rainless season. Their anatomical structure +also assists them in this respect in a peculiar manner. We know from +the experiments of Hales that plants chiefly evaporate the water +they contain through their leaves, and the cactus tribe have none. +Their stem, too, unlike that of all other plants, is clothed with a +peculiar leathery membrane, which wholly prevents evaporation. This +membrane is composed of very strange, almost cartilaginous, cells, +the walls of which are often traversed by elegant little canals. +Its thickness varies in different species, and it is thickest, and +therefore most impenetrable, in the Melocacti, which grow in the +driest and hottest regions, while it is least remarkable in the +species of Rhipsalis, which are parasites on the trees of the damp +Brazilian forests. + +Another striking point about this group is the formation of an +extraordinary quantity of oxalic acid. If this acid were collected +in large amount in the plant, it must necessarily be dead to it. +The plant, therefore, takes up from the soil on which it grows a +proportionate quantity of lime, which combines with the oxalic acid, +forming insoluble crystals, which occur in abundance in all the +Cactaceæ. + +A third peculiarity is exhibited in the globular forms of Melocactus +and Mamillaria, in the structure of the wood, which differs entirely +from that of the common ligneous plants. Common wood, for example +that of the poplar, is composed of long _wood-cells_, the walls of +which are quite simple and uniform, and of cells containing air, +the so-called _vessels_, the walls of which are very thickly beset +with little pores. Wholly unlike this, the wood of the cactus, +above-mentioned, exhibits only short, spindle-shaped cells, inside +which wind most elegant spiral bands, looking like little spiral +staircases. + +Lastly, the hair, spines, etc., situated in the places of leaves, +deserve a special mention. Generally speaking, three forms may be +distinguished, all three usually occurring together on the same +spot. The first are very flexible, simple hairs, which form a +little flat, soft cushion; among these is found a bunch of longish +but thin spines. These it is chiefly which, on account of their +peculiar structure, make the careless handling of the cactus plants +so dangerous. These little spines are very thin and brittle, so that +they readily break off, and are covered with barbed hooks directed +backward from the point. When touched, a whole bunch penetrate the +skin; if an attempt is made to draw them out, the separate spines +break in the skin, and the fragments pierce in other places; when the +hand is drawn over them, they catch in, and an insufferable itching, +terminating in a slight inflammation, spreads over all the parts +which have been touched. The Opuntia ferox is especially remarkable +for these spines, whence its name, the _savage_. Among the hairs and +smaller spines arise very long and thick spines, in different form +and number, which give the best characters for the determination of +the species. In some these are so hard and strong that they even lame +the wild asses which incautiously wound themselves, when kicking off +the spines to reach the means to still their thirst. In Opuntia Tuna, +which is the kind most frequently used for hedges, they are so large +that even the buffaloes are killed by the inflammation following from +these spines running into their breasts. + + + + + FUNGI + --HUGH MACMILLAN + + +Fungi are intimately associated with autumn; unrobed prophets that +see no sad visions themselves, but that bring to us thoughts of +change and decay. Indeed, so close is this association that they may +be called autumn’s peculiar plants. The bluebell still lingers on +the wayside bank, and in the woods a few bright but evanescent and +scentless flowers appear, but fungi and fruits form the wreath that +encircles the sober and melancholy brow of autumn: fruits, the death +of flower-life; fungi, the resurrection of plant-death. The seasonal +conditions which arrest the further progress of all other vegetation, +which cause the leaf to fall, and the flower to wither, and the robe +of nature everywhere to change and fade, give birth to new forms of +plant-life which flourish amid decay and death. From the relics of +the former creations of spring and summer reduced to chaos, springs +up a new creation of organic life; and thus nature is not a mere +continuous cycle of birth, maturity, and decay, but rather a constant +appearance of old elements in new forms. + +In many respects they are the most mysterious and paradoxical of +all plants. In their origin, their shapes, their composition, their +rapidity of growth, the brevity of their existence, their modes of +reproduction, their inconceivable number and apparent ubiquity, they +are widely different from every other kind of vegetation with which +we are acquainted. In studying their history we walk amid surprises; +and as we lift each corner of the veil, more and more marvelous are +the vistas that reveal themselves. + +The first thing that suggests remark in regard to these curious +organisms is their origin. Incapable of deriving the elements of +growth from the crude unorganized crust of the earth, they are +parasitical upon organic bodies, and are sustained by animal and +vegetable substances in a state of decomposition. That living and +often nutritious objects should spring from festering masses of +corruption and decay; that plants, endowed with all the organs +and capacities of life, should start into existence from the dead +tree that crumbles into dust at the slightest touch, or draw their +nourishment from dried and exhausted animal excretions, which have +lain for months under the influence of drenching rains and scorching +sunbeams, is indeed a profound mystery of nature. No sooner does the +majestic oak yield to the universal law of death, than several minute +existences, which had been previously bound up and hid within its +own, reveal themselves, seize upon the body with their tiny fangs, +fatten and revel upon its decaying tissues, and in a short space of +time reduce the patriarch and pride of the forest, which had braved +the storms of a thousand years, into a hideous mass of touchwood, or +into a heap of black dust. How strikingly do these plants illustrate +the great fact, that in nature nothing perishes; that in the +wonderful metamorphoses continually going on in the universe there +is change, but not loss; that there is no such thing as death, the +extinction of one form of existence being only the birth of another, +each grave being a cradle. + +In many of their properties the fungi are closely allied to some +members of the animal kingdom. They resemble the flesh of animals in +containing a large proportion of albuminous proximate principles; and +produce in larger quantity than all other plants azote or nitrogen, +formerly regarded as one of the principal marks of distinction +between plants and animals. This element reveals itself by the +strong cadaverous smell, which most of them give out in decaying, +and also by the savory meat-like taste which others of them afford. +Of all known bodies, nitrogen is the most unstable. Its compounds +are decomposed by slight causes; and, therefore, its presence in the +animal frame is the cause of its activity and proneness to change. +To this circumstance also is owing the fugacious character of fungi, +their speedy growth and decay. Unlike other vegetables, fungi possess +the remarkable property of exhaling hydrogen gas; and the great +majority of species, like animals, absorb oxygen from the atmosphere, +and disengage in return from their surface a large quantity of +carbonic acid. By chemical analysis, they are found to contain, +besides sugar, gum, and resin, a yellow spirit like hartshorn, a +yellow empyreumatic oil, and a dry, volatile, crystalline salt, so +that their nature is eminently alkaline, like animal substances +extremely prone to corruption. The cream-like substance, of which +the family of Myxogastres is composed, resembles sarcode, and +exhibits Amœba-like movements. Some of them contain such a quantity +of carbonate of lime that a strong effervescence takes place on the +application of sulphuric acid. Fungi feed like animals upon organic +compounds elaborated by other plants. They contribute in no way as +vegetables to the balance of organic nature. + +Another property they possess, which connects them with animals, is +their luminosity. This quality is very rare among plants, and is +almost peculiar to the lowest order of animals, particularly those +which inhabit the ocean. A species of mushroom (Agaricus olearius) +grows on the olive-tree which is often luminous at night, and +resembles the faint, lambent, flickering light emitted by the scales +of fish and sea-animals kept in a dark place. Anomalous conditions +of various species of Polyporus, Hypoxylon, etc., formerly referred +to the genus Rhizomorpha, from their root-like appearance, cover +the walls of dark mines with long, black, branchy, flat fibres, and +give out a remarkably vivid phosphorescent light, almost dazzling +the eye of the spectator. In the coal mines near Dresden, these +fungoid bodies are said to cover the roof, walls, and pillars with +an interlacing network of beautiful, flickering light like brilliant +gems in moonlight, giving the coal mine the appearance of an +enchanted palace on a festival night. + +Fungi growing in mines exhibit the same characteristic colors which +they display on the surface of the ground. Sometimes, however, +species that grow in caves, or in hollow trees, assume the most +curious abnormal forms, their metamorphosis remaining incomplete, so +that instead of producing fructification the whole fungus becomes a +monstrous modification of the mycelium. Their love of seclusion and +darkness gives an etiolated, sickly complexion to the whole tribe. In +consequence of this habit, they are, as a rule, the most sombre of +all plants, although instances occur in which the prevailing neutral +tints are exchanged for the most brilliant scarlets and yellows. +Green, which is the most frequent of all colors, the household dress +of our mother earth, more characteristic of ferns, mosses, lichens, +and algæ than of the higher plants, is almost unknown in the fungi; +and even when it occurs, it is always more or less of a verdigris +tint, and does not appear to be owing to the action of light and +oxygen upon the contents of the cell. + +Another of the remarkable peculiarities of the fungi is the extreme +rapidity of their growth, a peculiarity more frequently to be seen +among the lowest forms of animal life than among plants. They seem +special miracles of nature, rising from the ground, or from the +decaying trunk of the tree, full-formed and complete in all their +parts in a single night, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, or +the armed soldiers from the dragon’s teeth of Cadmus, sown in the +furrows of Colchis. It has long been known that the growth of fungi +takes place with great rapidity during thundery weather, owing, in +all probability, to the nitrogenized products of the rain which then +falls. One is surprised after a thunderstorm in the beginning of +August, or a day of warm, moist, misty weather, such as often occurs +in September, to see in the woods thick clusters of these plants +which had sprung into existence in the short space of twenty-four +hours, covering almost every decayed stump and rotten tree. In +tropical countries, stimulated by the intense heat and light, the +rapidity of vegetable growth is truly astonishing; the stout, woody +stem of the bamboo-cane, for instance, shooting up in the dense +jungles of India at the rate of an inch per hour. In the Polynesian +Islands, so favorable to vegetable life are the climate and soil +that turnip, radish, and mustard seed when sown show their cotyledon +leaves in twenty-four hours; melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins spring +up in three days, and peas and beans in four. But swift as is this +development of vegetation in highly favorable circumstances, the +rapidity of fungoid growth, under ordinary conditions, is still more +astonishing. These plants usually form at the rate of twenty thousand +new cells every minute. The giant puff-ball (Lycoperdon giganteum), +occasionally to be seen in fields and plantations, increases from the +size of a pea to that of a melon in a single night; while the common +stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) has been observed to attain a height of +four or five inches in as many hours. + +Rapidity of growth in fungi is necessarily followed by rapidity +of decay. Though some of the larger and more corky species last +throughout the summer, autumn, and winter, and a few are perennial, +growing on the same trunk for many years, slowly and almost +insensibly adding layer to layer, and attaining an enormous size, +yet the vast generality of fungi are very fugacious. They are the +ephemera of the vegetable kingdom. The entire life of most of the +species ranges from four days to a fortnight or month; while there +are numerous microscopic species of the mould family whose lives are +so brief and evanescent as scarcely to allow sufficient time to make +drawings of their forms. + +Fungi are extremely simple in their organization. They bring us back +to first principles, and reveal to us the secret manner in which +Nature builds up her most complicated vegetable structures. They +are composed entirely of cellular tissue, of a definite aggregation +of loose, more or less oval, elliptical cells with cavities between +them. These cells in many species may be seen by the naked eye, and +consist of little closed sacs of transparent colorless membrane. Here +is the starting-point of life. Such cells are the primary germ or +element from which every living thing, whether plant or animal, is +produced. The whole process of vegetable growth is but a continuous +multiplication of these cells. + +Although the structure of fungi is generally of a loosely cellular +nature, yet they exhibit an astonishing variety of consistence. Each +genus, and in many instances each species, displays a different +texture. They range in substance from a watery pulp or a gelatinous +scum to a fleshy, corky, leathery, or even ligneous mass. Some are +mere thin fibres of airy cobweb spreading like a flocculent veil +over decaying matter; while others resemble large, irregular masses +of hard, tough wood. Their qualities are also exceedingly various. +Like the ferns, they all possess a peculiar odor by which they may +be easily recognized, although it is somewhat different in different +individuals, some smelling strongly of cinnamon and bitter almonds, +others of onions and tallow, while others yield an insupportable +stench. As regards their tastes, the fungi are equally diversified, +being insipid, acrid, styptic, caustic, or rich and sweet. Some have +no taste in the mouth while masticated, but shortly after swallowing +there is a dry, choking, burning sensation experienced at the back +of the throat, which lasts for a considerable time. Upward of 3,000 +distinct species have been found and described in Britain alone; +while more than 20,000 species altogether are known to the scientific +world. In round numbers it may be said that fungi form about a third +of the flowerless plants. + +The following instances may be brought forward as illustrations of +the remarkable shapes which many of the fungi exhibit. On the trunk +of the oak, the ash, the beech, and the chestnut may occasionally +be seen a fungus so remarkably like a piece of bullock’s liver that +it may be known from that circumstance alone. This is the Fistulina +hepatica, or liver fungus. Its substance is thick, fleshy, and juicy, +of a dark Modena red, tinged with vermilion. It is marbled like beet +root and consists of fibres springing from the base, from which a red +pellucid juice like blood slowly exudes. Of all vegetable substances +this exhibits the closest resemblance to animal tissue. Even in +the minutest particular it seems to be a caricature of nature, a +sportive imitation on an unfeeling oak tree of the largest gland of +the animal body. Like the liver it is also nutritious, and forms a +favorite article of food in Austria, though it is somewhat tough +and acrid in taste. Another remarkable species of fungus, called +Jew’s Ears (Hirneola Auricula-Judæ), from its close resemblance to +the human ear, clings to the trunks of living trees, particularly +the elder, throughout the whole autumnal season. Another remarkable +species, the Tremella mesenterica, common all the year round, +on furze and sticks in woods, bears a strong resemblance to the +human mesentery. It is of a rich orange color. This extraordinary +resemblance which different fungi bear to the different parts of the +animal body served to confirm the opinion of the ancient botanists +and herbalists that they were animal structures, or at least +intermediate links between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. + +Although fungi in general are sober, nun-like plants, preferring +quiet Quaker colors suitable to the dim, secluded places which they +usually affect, yet some of them depart widely from this soberness +and exhibit themselves in the most gaudy hues. Some species are of a +brilliant scarlet color; others of a bright orange. Many are yellow, +while a few don the imperial purple. In short, they are to be found +of every color, from the purest white to the dingiest black, dark +emerald or leaf-green alone excepted. Some are beautifully zoned with +iridescent convoluted circles, or broad stripes of different hues. +Some shine as if sprinkled with mica; others are smooth as velvet, +and soft as kid-leather. + +Let us take a specimen of one of the most perfectly formed and +highly developed fungi, the common, shaggy mushroom, for instance +(Agaricus procerus), which is also the most familiar example, and +endeavor to point out the peculiarities of its structure. Like all +plants, it consists of two distinct parts, the organs of nutrition +or vegetation and the organs of reproduction; the former bearing +but a very small proportion in size to the latter. The organs +of nutrition or vegetation consist of grayish-white interlacing +filaments, forming a flocculent net-like tissue, and penetrating +and ramifying through the decaying substances on which the mushroom +grows. These filaments are formed of elongated colorless cells. They +are developed under ground, and in other plants would be called +roots. This part of the fungus is called by botanists mycelium, and +is popularly known as the spawn by which the mushroom is frequently +propagated. In favorable circumstances this mycelium spreads with +great rapidity, sometimes, especially when prevented from developing +organs of reproduction, attaining enormous dimensions. It may be kept +dormant in a dry state for a long time, ready to grow up into perfect +plants when the necessary heat and moisture are applied. When the +requisite conditions are present and the mycelium begins to develop +the reproductive tissue, there is formed at first a small, round +tubercle, in which the rudiments or miniature organs of the future +plant may, after a while, be distinctly traced. In this infantile +condition, the mushroom is covered completely with a fine, silky veil +or volva, which afterward disappears. The tubercle rapidly increases, +until at last it produces from its interior a long, thick, fleshy +stem, or stipe, surmounted by a pileus, or round convex, concave, or +flat cap, similar to that anciently worn by the Scottish peasantry. +This is the organ of reproduction, equivalent to the thecæ of mosses +and the flowers of phanerogamous plants. This cap is covered with a +veil or wrapper, which is ruptured at a certain stage, and retires +to form an annulus or ring round the stem. When it is removed from +the under side of the pileus, a number of vertical plates or gills is +revealed of a pale pinkish-yellow or white color, different from the +rest of the plant, and radiating round the cap from a common centre. + +The whole of this apparatus is called the hymenium. Each of the +gills when examined under the microscope is found to consist of a +number of elongated cells called basidia, united together on both +sides of a cellular stratum, and bearing at their summits four minute +spores supported on tiny stalks. It is by these spores, which become +detached when ripe, that the plant is propagated. These spores are +so very minute that many thousands of them are required to make a +body the size of a pin-head; and they are capable of enduring a +temperature at least equal to that of boiling water. While upon the +subject of spores I may mention here that the remarkable elastic +force with which many of the fungi eject their seed has often excited +attention, and is fully equal to anything of the same kind observed +among flowering plants. + +The mushroom may be regarded as an ideal fungus of the highest +type. There are six large orders of fungi in which the organs of +fructification are widely different. The first order is called +Hymenomycetes, or naked fungi, because the seed-bearing organs are +naked or placed externally. This is the largest, most important, and +most highly developed order. The mushroom, toadstool, chantarelle, +amadou, are familiar examples of it. The hymenium assumes various +shapes in the different genera. In the mushroom it forms gills, in +the toadstool tubes, in the chantarelle veins, in the amadou pores, +and in the hydnum spines. The second order, called Gasteromycetes, +has the seed-bearing organs inclosed in a membraneous covering, +like the stomach of an animal, whence the name. The stinkhorn, the +Melanogaster, or red truffle of Bath, the bird’s-nest fungus, and the +puff-ball are familiar examples of this order. Some of the forms, +such as Stemonitis fusca, common on rotten wood, are exceedingly +elegant. The third order is called Concomycetes, or dust-fungi, +because the spore-cases are produced beneath the epidermis of plants, +or the matrix in which they are developed, in the form of a minute +collection of dust, entirely destitute of any covering or receptacle, +except that which is furnished by the skin of the plant raised around +them. This class is the most destructive of the whole tribe. Smut, +bunt, and rust are too familiar examples of this most notorious +class. The fourth order is called Hyphomycetes, or web-like fungi, +because the spores are free, developed or naked filament whose +terminal cells are often transformed into a series of spores like a +row of beads. The general appearance of the plants belonging to this +order is that of a quantity of dust-like seeds, imbedded in a flaky, +cottony substance, like a spider’s web. The different kinds of common +mould, blue, yellow, and green, the potato disease, caterpillar and +silkworm blights, and various kinds of mildew are common examples of +this order. The fifth order, called Physomycetes, is distinguished +by its stalked sacs containing numerous spores, or sporidea. It is +the smallest of all the orders. The black, felty cellar-fungus and +the gray mucor or mould on preserves are familiar illustrations of +this order. The sixth and last order is that of the Ascomycetes, +or asci-bearing fungi, whose spores, generally eight in number, +are produced in the interior of groups of elongated sacs or thecæ +contained in fleshy, leathery, or wart-like fructification. These +fungi, of which the morel, truffle, and vine disease are well-known +examples, resemble lichens in every respect except that they are +produced on decaying substances, and are possessed of a mycelium or +spawn destitute of the green cellular matter of lichens. + +Although fungi are in an especial manner capable of universal +dissemination, yet we find that in their geographical distribution +they are as much restricted as other plants. Some representatives of +the class are found in every part of the world, and some particular +species have the power of indefinite extension and localization, +but, as a whole, like the higher cryptogams, they can only spread +within certain limited areas. In tropical forests, where the +exuberance of the vegetation excludes the rays of the sun, and +creates the dim light and the still, moist air which they love, +and where there is always an immense quantity of decaying organic +matter, we might expect to find them in the greatest quantity and +luxuriance. But, strange to say, fungi, as a class, are comparatively +rare in tropical woods. Their headquarters seem to be in northern +latitudes, where the temperature is mild and genial, and where +there is a constant supply of moisture. Professor Fries of Upsal, +the presiding genius of these plants, gathered in Sweden, within +a space of ground not exceeding a square furlong, more than two +thousand distinct species. “This country,” says Mr. Berkeley, “with +its various soils, large mixed forests, and warm summer temperature, +seems to produce more species than any part of the known world; +and next in order, perhaps, are the United States as far south as +South Carolina, where they absolutely swarm. A moist autumn after +a genial summer is most conducive to their growth, but cold, wet +summers are seldom productive. The portion of the Himalayas which +lies immediately north of Calcutta is, perhaps, almost as prolific +in point of individuals as the countries named above, but the number +of species on examination proves far less than might at first have +been suspected. It is probably not a fifth of what occurs in Sweden. +Great Britain, though possessing a considerable list of species, is +not abundant in individuals, except as regards a limited number of +species. The exuberance, even in the most favorable autumn, is not to +be compared with that of Sweden or many parts of Germany.” They are +found in Arctic and Antarctic regions, almost as far as the limits +of vegetation. They penetrate to the dreary regions of Greenland +and Lapland, supplying the natives with their tinder, and with an +excellent styptic for stopping blood and allaying pain; and they +announce to the hapless exiles of Siberia, when their gayly colored +forms spring forth from the crevices of the rocks, and in the dark +haunts of the gloomy fir-woods, that the stormy blasts of winter and +spring are past, and that the summer and autumn, those short, sweet +seasons of indescribable beauty and pleasure, have come. + +Certain genera and species occur only in tropical and sub-tropical +regions, having their northern limit in the north of Africa or the +coast of the Mediterranean. Several genera and species are confined +to New Zealand, others to Ceylon and Java, others to the Cape de +Verde Islands and the United States. Like flowering plants, the fungi +of different climates and zones are found at different heights along +the sides of tropical mountains that rise above the snow-line. In the +Sikkim Himalayas, Polyporus Sanguineus, and Xanthopus luxuriate in +the stifling tropical woods at the base of the hills; higher up the +fungi peculiar to Ceylon and Java grow among the palms and tree-ferns +of the mid regions; higher still, the species of Southern Europe +abound in the deodar forests and among the rhododendron thickets of +the upper heights; while below the line of perpetual snow, on grassy +slopes and amid scrubby vegetation, may be seen species, if not +identical with, at least very closely allied to, those of Britain and +Sweden. One species has been found at a height of 18,000 feet, which +is probably the highest range of fungoid growth. + + + + + FAIRY RINGS + --A. B. STEELE + + +The green circles, or parts of circles in pastures, popularly known +as fairy rings, have given rise to many curious beliefs and sayings, +and their marvelously rapid growth has struck the uncultivated as +a supernatural phenomenon. The prevalent belief was that they were +caused by the midnight dancing and revelry of the fairies; and +Shakespeare speaks of the elves-- + + “Whose pastime + Is to make midnight mushrooms.” + +In the west of England these rings are called “hogs’ tracks.” In the +myths and folklore of Sweden they are said to be enchanted circles +made by fairies. The elves perform their midnight _stimm_, or dance, +and the grass produced after the dancing is called _ailfexing_. A +belief prevails in some parts of this country that any one treading +within the magic circles either loses consciousness, or can not +retrace his steps. Many absurd theories have been propounded as to +the cause of these rings. Aubrey, who wrote the _Natural History of +Wiltshire_, in the Seventeenth Century, says that they are generated +from the breaking out of a fertile subterraneous vapor, which comes +from a kind of conical concave, and endeavors to get out at a narrow +passage at the top, which forces it to make another cone, inversely +situated to the other, the top of which is the green circle. Another +remarkable theory by a writer, quoted in Captain Brown’s notes to +White’s _Selborne_, attributes these rings to the droppings of +starlings, which when in large flights frequently alight on the +ground in circles, and are sometimes known to sit a considerable time +in these annular congregations. It was also thought that such circles +were caused by the effects of electricity, and for this belief +the withered part of the grass within the circles may have given +foundation. Priestley was a strong advocate of the electric theory, +and was supported by many eminent men of his time. + + “So from the clouds the playful lightning wings, + Rives the firm oak, and prints the fairy rings,” + +says Dr. Darwin, and appends a note that flashes of lightning, +attracted by the moister part of grassy plains, are the actual cause +of fairy rings. Archæologists suggested that they might be the +remains of circles formed by the ancient inhabitants of Britain, in +the celebration of their sports, or the worship of their deities. +Naturalists formerly came to the conclusion that the rings were +caused by the underground workings of insects, and a few years ago a +writer in the _Transactions of the Woolhope Club_ attempted to prove +that they were the work of moles. These so-called fairy rings, which +have long puzzled philosophers, are caused by a peculiar mode of +the growth of certain species of fungi, the peculiarity being their +tendency to assume a circular form. A patch of spawn arising from a +single seed, or a collection of seeds, spreads centrifugally in every +direction and forms a common felt from which the fruit rises at its +extreme edge; the soil in the inner part of the disk is exhausted, +and the spawn dies or becomes effete there while it spreads all +round in an outward direction and produces another crop, whose spawn +spreads again. The circle is thus continually enlarged and extends +indefinitely until some cause intervenes to destroy it. This mode of +growth is far more common than is supposed, and may be constantly +seen in our woods, when the spawn can be spread only in the soil or +among the leaves and decaying fragments which cover it. In the fields +this tendency is illustrated by the formation of circles or parts of +circles of vigorous dark green grass. To get at the cause, however, +of the rank growth of the grass composing these rings is not without +its difficulties still. It is known that fungi exhaust the soil of +plant-food and store it up in their own substance. In the case of +these fairy rings they take up from the soil the organic nitrogen +which is not available to the grasses, and in some way become the +medium of the supply of the soil-nitrogen to the grasses forming +the circle. How exactly the nitrogen, one of the most important +plant-foods, is fixed by these fungi has not yet been discovered, but +the grasses immediately following the fungi have been analyzed and +found to contain a larger proportion of nitrogen than the herbage in +the neighborhood. + +Fairy rings are sometimes distinctly seen visible on a hillside from +a considerable distance, many of them being years old and of enormous +dimensions. One recorded from Stebbing, in Essex, measured 120 feet +across, the grass all over it being very coarse and dark green in +color, chiefly of the cock’s-foot species. Rings found in pasture +lands are composed of several species of fungi, all of which are +edible. They are most frequently observed to be formed by marasmius +oreades, a little buff mushroom which most people know under the name +of champignons, or Scotch bonnets. It is abundant everywhere. For +several months in the year it comes up in successive crops in great +profusion after rain, and continually traces fairy rings among the +grass. + +Another and very delicious mushroom, agaricus prunulus, sometimes +called the plum agaric, and known in America as the French mushroom, +occasionally succeeds a crop of the champignons which had recently +occupied the same site. It is sometimes found throughout the +summer, but autumn is the time to look for it. The only other good +edible fungi to be found in any quantity forming rings are the +horse-mushroom, the giant-mushroom, and St. George’s mushroom. The +first two are excellent eating, and to be had in the late summer +and autumn; but the last are reproduced in rings in spring every +year--the circle continuing to increase till it breaks up into +irregular lines. The continuity of the circle is a sign to the +collector that there will be a plentiful harvest next spring, while +the breaking up is conclusive proof that it is going to disappear +from that place. Spring is the only time it makes its appearance, +and the proper place to look for it is the borders of woodlands. +It is one of the most savory of mushrooms, and difficult to be +confounded with any other, as it appears at a time when scarcely any +other kinds occur. Like the champignon, it has an advantage over the +common mushroom in the readiness with which it dries, and is largely +employed in the preparation of ketchup. It is called St. George’s +mushroom on account of its appearing about St. George’s Day, the 23d +of April, and among the peasants of Austria is looked on as a special +gift from that saint. In Italy a basket of early specimens is a +favorite present among all classes. + + + + + LICHENS + --HUGH MACMILLAN + + +Lichens are exceedingly diversified in their form, appearance, and +texture. About five hundred different kinds have been found in +Great Britain alone, while upward of three thousand species have +been discovered in different parts of the world by the zealous +researches of naturalists. In their very simplest rudimentary +forms, they consist apparently of nothing more than a collection +of powdery granules, so minute that the figure of each is scarcely +distinguishable, and so dry and utterly destitute of organization +that it is difficult to believe that any vitality exists in them. +Some of these form ink-like stains on the smooth tops of posts +and felled trees; others are sprinkled like flower of brimstone or +whiting over shady rocks and withered tufts of moss; while a third +species is familiar to every one, as covering with a bright green +incrustation the trunks and boughs of trees in the squares and +suburbs of smoky towns, where the air is so impure as to forbid the +growth of all other vegetation. It also creeps over the grotesque +figures and elaborate carving on the roofs and pillars of Roslin +Chapel, near Edinburgh, and gives to the whole an exquisitely +beautiful and romantic appearance. One species, the Lepraria +Jolithus, is associated with many a superstitious legend. Linnæus, +in his journal of a tour through Œland and East Gothland, thus +alludes to it: “Everywhere near the road I saw stones covered with a +blood-red pigment, which on being rubbed turned into a light yellow, +and diffused a smell of violets, whence they have obtained the name +of violet stones; though, indeed, the stone itself has no smell at +all, but only the moss with which it is dyed.” At Holywell, in North +Wales, the stones are covered with this curious lichen, which gives +them the appearance of being stained with blood; and, of course, the +peasantry allege that it is the ineffaceable blood which dropped from +Ste. Winifred’s head, when she suffered martyrdom on that sacred +spot. A higher order of lichens (Bæomyces) is furnished besides this +powdery crust, with solid, fleshy, club-shaped fructification like a +minute pink fungus; while a singularly beautiful genus (Calicium), +usually of a very vivid yellow color, spreading in indefinite +patches over oaks and firs, is provided with capsules somewhat like +those of the mosses. + +Most of the crustaceous lichens are merely gray filmy patches +inseparable from their growing places, indefinitely spreading, or +bounded by a narrow dark border, which always intervenes to separate +them when two species closely approximate, and studded all over with +black, brown, or red tubercles. The foliaceous species are usually +round rosettes of various colors, attached by dense black fibres +all over their under-surface, or by a single knot-like root in the +centre. Some are dry and membranaceous; while others are gelatinous +and pulpy, like aerial sea-weeds left exposed on island rocks by the +retiring waves of an extinct ocean. Some are lobed with woolly veins +underneath; and others reticulated above, and furnished with little +cavities or holes on the under-surface. The higher orders of lichens, +though destitute of anything resembling vascular tissue, exhibit +considerable complexity of structure. Some are scrubby and tufted, +with stem and branches like miniature trees; others bear a strong +resemblance to the corallines of our seashores; while a third class, +“the green-fringed cup-moss with the scarlet tip,” as Crabble calls +it, is exceedingly graceful, growing in clusters beside the black +peat moss or underneath the heather tuft, + + “And, Hebe-like, upholding + Its cups with dewy offering to the sun.” + +As an illustration of the extraordinary appearance which lichens +occasionally present, I may describe the Opegrapha, or written +lichen, perhaps the most curious and remarkable member of this +strange tribe. In her cacti and orchids sportive Nature often +displays a ludicrous resemblance to insects, birds, animals, and +even the “human face and form divine”; but this is one of the few +instances in which she has condescended to imitate in her vegetable +productions the written language of man. A cryptogam is in this case +a cryptogram! The crust of the curious autograph of nature is a +mere white tartareous film of indefinite extent, sometimes bounded +by a faint line of black, like a mourning letter. It spreads over +the bark of trees, particularly the beech, the hazel, and the ash. +On the birch-tree--whose smooth, snow-white vellum-like bark seems +designed by nature for the inscription of lovers’ names and magic +incantations--it may often be seen covering the whole trunk. The +fructification consists of long wavy black lines, sometimes parallel +like Runic inscriptions; sometimes arrow-headed, like the cuneiform +characters engraved upon the monumental stones of Persepolis and +Assyria; and sometimes gathered together in groups and clusters, +bearing a strong resemblance to Hebrew, Arabic, or Chinese letters. + +Lichens are extremely simple in their construction. They are composed +of two parts, the nutritive and the reproductive system. The +nutritive portion is called the thallus, which, in the typical plant, +spreads equally on all sides from the original point of development, +in the from of an increasing circle; the circumference of which is +often healthy, while the central parts are decayed or completely +wanting. + +Nature has bestowed upon the lichens a peculiar mode of reproduction +which appears quite different from that of the higher orders of the +vegetable kingdom; and yet they are propagated with as unerring +certainty and as great rapidity as the most prolific family of +flowers. Every one who has an attentive eye must have often noticed +the curious round disks or shields, usually of a different color from +the rest of the plant, with which their surface is often studded. +These are called apothecia, and correspond with the flowers of the +higher plants; for in them are lodged the seeds or germs by which the +lichens are perpetuated. When examined under the microscope they are +found to consist of a number of delicate flask-shaped cells, called +thecæ, containing 4, 8, 12, or 16 sporidia, that is, cells of an oval +form, with spores or seeds in their interior. The mode in which these +spores are ejected affords as wonderful a proof of design as in the +case of ferns and mosses. + +[Illustration: Typical Nuts and Tree-Products + +1, Cinnamon; 2, Camphire (Camphor); 3, Pomegranate; 4, Sycamore Figs; +5, Olive Twig and Fruit; 6, Theobroma Cacao (Chocolate)] + +Lichens are very slow-growing plants. They spring up somewhat rapidly +during the first year or two, as is evinced by the luxurious growth +which they form over young fruit-trees and espaliers in gardens; but +after a circular frond is formed, they subside into a dormant state, +in which they remain unaltered for many years. The foliaceous and +scrubby species are the most fugacious, though even these have great +powers of longevity. We have no data from which to ascertain the age +of tartareous species, which adhere almost inseparably to stones. +Some of them are probably as old as any living organisms that exist +on the earth. + +In the Arctic regions--those outer boundaries of the earth where +eternal winter presides--these humble plants constitute by far the +largest proportion of the flora, and by their prodigious development, +and their wide social distribution, give as marked and peculiar a +character to the scenery as the palms and tree-ferns impart to the +landscapes of the tropics. In the Southern Hemisphere also lichens +extend almost to the pole. They mark the extreme limit at which land +vegetation has been found; one scrubby species, with large, deep, +chestnut-colored fructification, called Usnea fasciata, having been +observed by Lieutenant Kendal on Deception Island, the Ultima Thule +of the Antarctic regions. + +In tropical countries, where there is not too much moisture and +shade, the trees are shaggy with lichens; and some of the most +magnificent species, both as regards size and color, have been +gathered in the Cinchona forests which clothe the lower slopes of the +Andes, and in the warmer and more densely wooded parts of Australia +and New Zealand. The thick impervious forests of Brazil, however, +are said to be almost destitute of them. On the Alps of Switzerland +the last lichens are to be found on the highest summits, attached +to projecting rocks, exposed to the scorching heats of summer and +the fierce blasts of winter; and from forty to forty-five kinds +have been found in spots, surrounded by extensive masses of snow, +between 10,000 and 14,780 feet above the level of the sea. It is +interesting to know that the only plant found by Agassiz near the top +of Mont Blanc was the Lecidea geographica, a very beautiful lichen, +which covers the exposed rocks on the sides and summits of all the +British hills, with its bright-green, map-like patches. This species +was also gathered by Dr. Hooker at an elevation of 19,000 feet on +the Himalayas, and occupied the last outpost of vegetation which +gladdened the eyes of the illustrious Humboldt, when standing within +a few hundred feet of the summit of Chimborazo, the highest peak of +the Andes. + +The Lecidea geographica affords, I may mention, the most remarkable +example of the almost universal diffusion of lichens, being the most +Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine lichen in the world--facing the savage +cliffs of Melville Island in the extreme north, clinging to the +volcanic rocks of Deception Island in the extreme south, and scaling +the towering peak of Kinchin-junga, the most elevated spot on the +surface of the earth. + +It is somewhat remarkable that Alpine lichens generally are more or +less of a brown or black color. This peculiarity seems to be owing +to the presence of usnine or usnic acid, which in a pure state is +of a green color, as in the lichens which grow in shady forests, +but which becomes oxidized, and changes to every shade of brown and +black, when exposed to the powerful agencies of light and heat on +the bleak barren rocks on the mountain side and summit. These gloomy +lichens, associated as they always are with the dusky tufts of +that singular genus of mosses, the Andræas, give a very marked and +peculiar character to many of the Highland mountains, especially to +the summit of Ben Nevis, where they creep, in the utmost profusion, +over the fragments of abraded rocks which strew the ground on every +side, otherwise bare and leafless, as was the world on the first +morning of creation, and reminding one of the ruin of some stupendous +castle, or the battlefield of the Titans. Some of the Alpine lichens, +however, are remarkable for the vividness and brilliancy of their +colors. The mountain cup-moss, with its light green stalk clothed +and filigreed with scales and emerald cup studded round with rich +scarlet knobs, presents no unapt resemblance to a double red daisy. +It grows in large clusters on the bare storm-scalped ridges, and +forms a kind of miniature flower-garden in the Alpine wilderness. +The loveliest, however, of all the mountain lichens is the Solorina +crocea, which spreads over the loose mould in the clefts of rocks, +and on the fragments of comminuted schist on the summits of the +highest Highland mountains, forming patches of the most beautiful +and vivid green, varied, when the under side of the lobes is curled +up, by reticulations of a very rich orange-saffron color. This +species is not found at a lower elevation than 4,000 feet; hence it +is unknown in England, Ireland, and Wales, whose highest mountains +fall considerably short of this altitude. I have gathered it on +Cairngorm, Ben Macdhui, and Ben Lawers. In this last locality, which +is well known to botanists as exhibiting a perfect garden of rare and +beautiful Alpine plants, it grows in greater abundance, I believe, +than in any other spot in the Highlands. + +On account of the large quantity of starchy matter which they +contain, they often considerably, and sometimes even entirely, form +the diet of man and animals in those dreary inhospitable regions +where the wintry rigor, or the scorching heat of the climate, forbids +all other kinds of vegetation to grow. Every one is familiar with the +fact that the reindeer-moss (Cladonia rangiferina) forms altogether +the food of that animal during the prolonged northern winters. This +lichen grows sparingly in little tufts among the heather in Scotland, +and sometimes whitens the sides and plateaus of the Highland hills, +covering bare and verdureless places where the snow first falls in +winter and lingers longest in summer; but it is in the vast sandy +plains, called by the Laplanders Flechten-tundra and Moos-tundra, as +lichens or mosses predominate, which border the Arctic Ocean, that +it flourishes in the greatest profusion and luxuriance. There it +completely covers the ground with its snowy tufts, and occupies as +conspicuous a place in the economy of nature as the grass in warmer +regions. Linnæus says that no plant flourishes so luxuriantly as +this in the pine-forests of Lapland, the surface of the soil being +completely carpeted with it for many miles in extent; and that if by +an accident the forests are burned to the ground, in a very short +time the lichens reappear, and resume all their original vigor. + +When the ground is covered with hard and frozen snow, so that the +reindeer can not obtain its usual food, it finds a substitute in a +very curious lichen called rock-hair (Alectoria jubata), which covers +with its beard-like tufts the trunk of almost every tree. In most +severe weather the Laplanders cut down whole forests of the largest +trees, that their herds may be enabled to browse at liberty upon the +tufts which cover the higher branches. The vast, dreary pine-forests +of Lapland possess a character which is peculiarly their own, and +are perhaps more singular in the eyes of the traveler than any other +feature in the landscapes of that remote and desolate region. This +character they owe to the immense number of lichens with which they +abound. The ground instead of grass is carpeted with dense tufts of +the reindeer moss, white as a shower of new-fallen snow; while the +trunks and branches of the trees are swollen far beyond their natural +dimensions with huge, dusky, funereal bunches of the rock-hair +hanging down in masses, exhaling a damp earthy smell, like an old +cellar, or stretching from tree to tree in long festoons, waving with +every breath of wind, and creating a perpetual melancholy twilight. + +Another beard-like lichen (Usnea florida), often growing along with +the rock-hair, is gathered in great quantities in North America, +from the pine-forests, and stored up as winter fodder for cattle in +inclement seasons. Goats, and especially deer, are fond of it; and +in winter when other food is scarce, they hardly leave a vestige +of it on the trees within their reach. The tortoises of the small +rocky islands of the Galapagos Archipelago subsist almost entirely +upon it. In Scotland it is one of the most picturesque ornaments of +the pine-forests. When fully developed it forms tufts nearly a foot +in length. It is quite a miniature larch-tree, with root, stem, and +most intricate branches and twigs. Its color is pale sea-green; +and a central white thread or pith runs through the main stem, and +lateral branches, on which, when cracked with age, the segments +of cellular tissue are strung like beads on a necklace. A kind of +farinaceous meal is plentifully sprinkled on the ultimate branches. +Altogether it is one of the most beautiful and interesting lichens. A +reddish variety grows in such quantities on trees of Conyza arborea, +forming the alley near Napoleon Bonaparte’s residence in St. Helena, +that this hanging vegetation is the first thing that attracts the eye +of the visitor. + +But it is not to animals alone that lichens furnish a supply of +food. There are few, I presume, who are not acquainted with some +particulars regarding the history and uses of that remarkable lichen +sold in chemists’ shops under the name of Cetraria islandica, or +Iceland moss. What barley, rye, and oats are to the Indo-Caucasian +races of Asia and western Europe; the olive, the grape, and the fig +to the inhabitants of the Mediterranean districts; the date-palm to +the Egyptian and Arabian; rice to the Hindu; and the tea-plant to +the Chinese--the Iceland moss is to the Laplanders, Icelanders, and +Esquimaux. + +It may be mentioned that, notwithstanding its name, the Iceland moss +is not only more plentiful, but more largely developed in all its +varied forms in Norway than in Iceland, and it is in Norway that it +is now almost exclusively collected for the European market. + +Those who have read the affecting account which Franklin and +Richardson give of their expedition to Arctic America must be +familiar with the name of the Tripe de Roche, which occurs on almost +every page, and is intimately associated with the fearful sufferings +which these brave men endured, a part of which only would have +sufficed to unseat the reason of most individuals. During their long +and terrible journey from the Coppermine River to Fort Enterprise, +one of the stations of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in the almost total +absence of every other kind of salutary food, their lives were +supported by a bitter and nauseous lichen, to which the name of Tripe +de Roche (Gyrophora) has been given as if in mockery. + +The Tripe de Roche consists of various species of Gyrophora--black, +leather-like lichens, studded with small black points like coiled +wire buttons, and attached by an umbilical root, or by short strong +fibres to rocks on the mountains. Some of them bear no unapt +resemblance to a piece of shagreen; while others appear corroded, +like a fragment of burned skin, as if the rock on which they grew +had been subjected to the action of fire. They are found in cold +exposed situations on Alpine rocks of granite or micaceous schist, +in almost all parts of the world--on the Himalayas and Andes as well +as the British mountains. But it is in the Arctic regions alone that +they luxuriate, covering the surface of every rock, to the level of +the seashore, with a gloomy Plutonian vegetation that seems like the +charred cinders and shriveled remains of former verdure and beauty. + + + + + MOSSES + --HUGH MACMILLAN + + +Mosses belong to the foliaceous or highest division of flowerless +plants. Although consisting entirely of cellular tissue and +increasing by simple additions of matter to the growing point or +apex of parts already formed, they point to far higher orders +of vegetation; they are prefigurations of the flowering plants, +epitomes of archetypes in trees and flowers. There is nothing in the +appearance or structure of the lichens, fungi, or algæ to remind +the popular mind of higher plants; they form, as it were, a strange +microcosm of their own--a perfectly distinct and peculiar order of +vegetable existence. But when we ascend a step higher and come to +the mosses, we find for the first time the rudimental characters +and distinctions of root, stem, branches, and leaves--we recognize +an ideal exemplar of the flowering plants, all whose parts and +organs are, as it were, sketched out, in anticipation, in these +simple and tiny organisms. Through the small, densely cushioned, +moss-like Alpine flowers, they approximate analogically to the +phanerogamous plants in their leaves and habits of growth; and +through the cone-like spikes of the club-mosses they approximate to +the pine tribe in their fructification. From both these classes of +highly organized plants, however, they are separated by wide and +numerous intervening links. But still it is curious and interesting +to find in them an exemplification of the universal teleology of +nature--the humblest typical forms pointing to the grand archetypes, +the simplest structures anticipating and prefiguring the most highly +organized and complicated. + +In no tribe of plants is there so great a similarity between the +different species as in the mosses. This remarkable similarity, +concealing a no less remarkable diversity, has led to the popular +belief that there is only one kind of moss. Closely examined, +however, by an educated eye, their exceeding variableness of form +will at once become evident, some being slender, hair-like plants; +some resembling miniature fir-trees, others cedars, and others +crested feathers and ostrich-plumes. In size they vary from a minute +film of green scarcely visible to the naked eye to wreaths and +clusters several feet in length. Nor are their colors less variable, +ranging from white through every shade of yellow, red, green, and +brown, to the deepest and most sombre black. + +The leaves of mosses are their most prominent parts. To the careless +and superficial eye, accustomed to look at a tuft of moss as merely +a patch of velvety greenness, creeping over an old tree or dike, the +leaves of all mosses may appear precisely similar; but the attentive +observer who examines them under a microscope will find that the +leaves of different kinds of trees are not more distinct from each +other than are those of the mosses. + +The organs of fructification, however, with which mosses are +furnished, are, perhaps, the most wonderful parts of their economy. +When the requisite conditions are present, these are generally +developed during the winter and spring months, and may be easily +recognized by their peculiar appearance. At first a forest of +hair-like stalks, of a pale pink color, rises above the general level +of the tuft of moss to the height of between one and three inches, +giving to the moss the appearance of a pincushion well provided with +pins. These stalks, through course of time, are crowned with little +wen-like vessels called capsules, which are covered at an early +stage with little caps, like those of the Normandy peasants, with +high peaks and long lappets--in one species bearing a remarkable +resemblance to the extinguisher of a candle--a curious provision +for protecting them alike from the sunshine and the rain, until the +delicate structures underneath are matured. When the fruit-stalk +lengthens and the capsules swell, this hood or cap is torn from +its support and carried up on the top of the seed-vessel, much in +the same way as the common garden annual, the Eschscholtzia or +Californian poppy is borne up on the summit of the cone-like petals +before they expand. When the seed-vessel is riper it falls off +altogether, and discloses a little lid covering the mouth of the +capsule, which is also removed at a more advanced stage of growth. +The mouth of the seed-vessel is then seen to be fringed all round +with a single or double row of teeth, which closely fit into each +other, and completely close up the aperture. + +It is extremely interesting to note that the leaf is the type of +the plant in the moss as in the flowering plant; the veil being +merely a convolute leaf, the lid a metamorphosed leaf, the teeth +one or more whorls of minute, flat leaves. It is by no means rare +to find individual mosses in which leaves appear at the top of +the fruit-stalk in place of the spore-case, just as happens in the +phyllode of flowering plants, when the colored parts of the flower +are converted into green foliage. + +Mosses possess in a high degree the power of reproducing such parts +of their tissue as have been injured or removed. They may be trodden +under foot; they may be torn up by the plow or the harrow; they may +be cropped down to the earth, when mixed with grass by graminivorous +animals; they may be injured in a hundred other ways; but, in a +marvelously short space of time they spring up as verdant in their +appearance and as perfect in their form as though they had never been +disturbed. + +Mosses also possess the power of resisting, perhaps to a greater +extent than most plants, the injurious operation of physical agents; +and this likewise is a wise provision to qualify them for the uses +which they serve in the economy of nature. The influence of heat +and cold upon many of them is extremely limited; some species +flourishing indiscriminately on the mountains of Greenland and the +plains of Africa. They have been found growing near hot springs in +Cochin-China, and fringing the sides of the geysers of Iceland, +where they must have vegetated in a heat equal to 186 degrees; +while, on the other hand, they have been gathered in Melville +Island at 35 degrees, or only just above the freezing-point. Though +frozen hard under the snow-wreaths of winter for several months, +their vitality is unimpaired; and though subjected to the scorching +rays of the summer’s sun they continue green and unblighted. Even +when thoroughly desiccated into a brown, unshapen mass that almost +crumbles into dust when touched by the hand, they revive under the +influence of the genial shower, become green as an emerald; every +pellucid leaf serving as a tiny mirror on which to catch the stray +sunbeams. Specimens dried and pressed in the herbarium for half a +century, have been resuscitated on the application of moisture, and +the seed procured from their capsules has readily germinated. They +grow freely in the Arctic regions, where there is a long twilight +of six months’ duration; and they luxuriate in the dazzling, +uninterrupted light of the tropics. They are found thriving amid +moist, steam-like vapors, with orchids and tillandsias, in the deep +American forests; and they may be seen in tufts here and there on +the dry and arid sands of the Arabian deserts. It matters not to +the healthy exercise of their functions whether the surrounding air +be stagnant or in motion, for we find them on the mountain top amid +howling winds and driving storms, and in the calm, silent, secluded +wood, where hardly a breeze penetrates to ruffle their leaves. + +Unlike the ferns, the size and number of which gradually diminish in +passing from tropical to temperate countries, the maximum of mosses +is found in cold climates, increasing in luxuriance, beauty, and +abundance as we approach the North Pole. Like the ferns, moisture and +shade are highly favorable to their growth and well-being; hence, as +a rule, they produce a larger number of species and individuals, and +spread over wider areas in islands and the vicinity of rivers and +lakes than in the interior of continents, unless when well wooded and +watered. Their favorite habitats appear to be rocky dells or ravines +at the foot of mountains, with streamlets murmuring through them and +dense trees interweaving their foliage over their sides and creating +a dim twilight in the recesses beneath. In such hermit seclusions the +botanist may expect to reap the richest harvest of species. + +Mosses, in many instances, are limited to rocks and soils of the same +mineral character; their limits of distribution, and of the rocks and +soils possessing such character being identical. For instance, some +are confined to limestone districts and chalk cliffs; a calcareous +soil being indispensable to their existence. Others affect granite; +numerous species luxuriate in soil formed by the disintegration +of micaceous schist; while not a few are found growing chiefly on +sandstone and clay. Some are found only on and near the seashore; +others are confined to the beds of streams and cliffs moistened by +the spray of cascades, where, however impetuous the torrent may be, +they cling tenaciously to the rocks and form carpets of greenest +verdure for the white, glistening feet of the descending waters. +Some are restricted exclusively to trees whose trunks and boughs +they clasp like emerald bracelets; others lead a lonely, hermit-like +existence in the dim moist caves and crevices of rocks, where they +are discovered only by the glistening of a stray adventurous sunbeam +on the drops of dew trembling upon their shining golden leaves. + +Mosses are sometimes found in an isolated state as single +individuals, but they are far oftener found in a social condition. +It is a peculiarity of the family to grow in tufts or clusters, the +appearance of which is always distinct and well-marked in different +species, and often affords a specific character. This disposition to +grow together, which is exhibited in no other plants so strongly, +redeems them from the insignificance of their individual state, and +enables them to modify in many places the appearance of the general +landscape. As social plants they often cover vast districts of land. +Along with the lichens they give a verdant appearance to the desert +steppes of Northern Europe, Asia, and America. Mixed with grass +they luxuriate in parks, lawns, and meadows, particularly in moist, +low-lying situations. They spread in large patches over the ground +in woods and forests; and at a certain elevation on mountain ranges +they take exclusive possession of the soil, forming immense beds +into which the foot sinks up to the ankles at every step, bleached +on the surface by the sunshine and rain, blackened here and there by +dissolving wreaths of snow which lie upon them through all the summer +months, and gradually decomposing underneath into black vegetable +mould. + +The plants whose peculiarities have been described in the preceding +pages are called Urn Mosses, their fructification being urn-shaped, +furnished with teeth and closed with a lid. There is another large +class called Scale-Mosses, so closely allied to the true mosses that +they are frequently confounded even by an educated eye. There are +upward of a hundred species of scale mosses indigenous to Great +Britain and Ireland, some of which are so small as to be scarcely +visible and others much larger than any of the true mosses. With the +exception of a few prominent species, which are found in every moist +wood and on every shady rock, they are somewhat local and limited in +their distribution, many of them being remarkably rare and confined +to remote and isolated localities. The greatest number of species +occurs in the tropics; and nowhere do they luxuriate so much as in +the dark woods and mountain ravines of New Zealand. Some of them +grow in the bleakest spots in the world, and are to be found even at +a higher altitude than the urn-mosses on the great mountain ranges +of the globe. They form the faintest tint of green on the edges of +glaciers and on the bare, storm-seamed ridges of the Alps and Andes, +where not a tuft of moss or a trace of other vegetation can be seen; +and this almost imperceptible film of verdure, when cleansed from the +earth and moistened with water, presents under the microscope the +most beautiful appearance. + +The peculiarities of these plants are so remarkable and interesting +that they deserve more than a passing notice. As a rule, to which, +however, there are a good many exceptions, they do not grow upright +in tufts like the mosses, but have a flat, creeping, lichen-like +habit, spreading over rocks and trees in closely applied circles +which radiate from a common centre. The whole typical plant is like a +series or necklace of roundish, flat, imbricated scales, several of +which branch from a common point in the middle. The leaves, unlike +those of the mosses, are entirely destitute of a central nerve, for +what is called the nervure in the membraneous or leafy species is +nothing more than the stalk itself on the edges of which the leaves +are fastened together in such a manner as to form apparently a +continuous whole. + +The Hepaticæ, or scale-mosses, may be divided into two groups, +consisting of those species in which the vegetation is frondose, that +is, in which leaf and stem are confounded, and of those in which +the vegetation is foliaceous, that is, in which leaves and stem are +distinct. + +The most interesting of all the frondose group of scale-mosses is +the common Marchantia or Liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha). It is +very common, creeping in large, dark-green patches over rocks in very +moist and shady situations, such as the banks of a densely wooded +stream in a deep, narrow glen, or the sides of rivers and fountains. +It may often be seen also on the moist walls of hothouses and in +the pots and tubs. It adheres closely to rocks, which it sometimes +completely covers with its imbricated fronds by the numerous white, +downy radicles with which the under surface is covered. + +The second or foliaceous group of scale-mosses, in which the leaves +and stem are distinct, is called Jungermanniæ, and contains by far +the largest number of species and the richest variety of form and +color. On either side of the thread-like stem arise in a more or +less oblique position the membraneous overlapping leaves; while the +fruit-vessel springs from the end of the stem, and is produced upon +little silvery foot-stalks. It bursts into four valves, and when +fully expanded spreads out into the form of a cross. There is a class +of plants whose external appearance and mode of growth would indicate +that they belong to the tribe under review, but whose structure and +functions are so different that they are commonly supposed to bear a +closer analogy to the ferns. They occupy an intermediate position, +and form a connecting link between ferns and mosses; I allude to the +Lycopods, or club-mosses. They are usually found in bleak, bare, +exposed situations in all parts of the world, and sometimes attain a +large size; forsaking the creeping habit peculiar to the family, and +becoming slightly arborescent in tropical countries, particularly New +Zealand, rivaling in rank luxuriance the smaller shrubs of the forest. + +The club-mosses are all very graceful and beautiful plants. The +Spanish moss (Lycopodium denticulatum) is a great ornament to +conservatories and hothouses, where it conceals with its luxuriant +drapery the mould in the pots, and keeps the roots of the plants +moist. Nothing can be lovelier or more elegant than a basket of +orchids in full flower, with clusters of this moss in careless grace +from its sides. Lycopods may be said to present the highest type of +cryptogamic vegetation, the highest limit capable of being reached by +flowerless plants. + +The first pages of the earth’s history reveal to us very +extraordinary facts with relation to members and allies of the moss +tribe. The club-mosses, in particular, at a former period, seem to +have played a more important part, or to have found conditions more +suitable to their luxuriant development than is the case at the +present day. The two or three hundred species at present existing are +the mere remnant of a once magnificent group. Some of them are stated +to have formed lofty trees eighty feet high, with a proportionate +diameter of trunk. They are among the most ancient of all plants. +The oldest land-plant yet known is supposed to be a species of +lycopodium closely resembling the common species of the moors. In +the upper beds of the Upper Silurian rocks they are almost the only +terrestrial plants yet found. In the lower Old Red Sandstone they +also abounded; while they occupied a considerable space in the Oolite +vegetation. But it is in the Coal-measures that they seem to have +attained their utmost size and luxuriance, sigillaria, lepidodendron, +etc., being now considered by competent botanists to be highly +developed lycopodia. Along with ferns they covered the whole earth +from Melville Island in the Arctic regions to the Ultima Thule of the +Southern Ocean, with rank majestic forests of a uniform dull, green +hue. + + + + + EUROPEAN SEA-WEEDS + --P. MARTIN DUNCAN + + +The zones of life are (1) the littoral zone, or tract between +tide-marks; (2) the laminarian zone, from low water to fifteen +fathoms; (3) the coralline zone, from low water to fifteen fathoms. +Then come other zones leading to the great depths. + +The broad-leaved tangles live in the laminarian zone, and it is +called so from their Latin name, and therefore they limit the plants +and animals of the shore, seaward. + +It has been noticed that the animals and plants of the shores of our +coasts are not the same everywhere, and that in certain parts some +peculiar kinds are to be found. This is produced by climate, the +nature of the sediment on the shore, the geological nature of the +coast-line and inland parts, and the mineralogy of the district. And +with regard to this last, it may be noticed, that where the rocks +contain lime, or limestone and chalk, there certain shell-fish and +corallines abound; but where this mineral does not exist, there +they are comparatively or entirely absent. The British Islands, +extending to the north and south, and being washed by the North Sea, +the Atlantic, the German Ocean, and the Channel seas, come within +the limits of certain natural history provinces. One is called the +Boreal, and it extends across the Atlantic from Nova Scotia and +Massachusetts to Ireland, the Faroe Islands, and Shetland Islands, +and along the coast of Norway. That is to say, there are marine +animals and plants which are found on the American, Irish, Scottish, +and Norwegian shores, and which are either of the same kind or +species, or of the same genus or group. + +The next province is the Celtic, and it includes the coasts of +England, Scotland, Denmark, southern Sweden, and the Baltic, and all +these places have animals of the shore and other zones in common. The +Channel Islands and parts of British south coasts come within range +of another province, called the Lusitanian, which is that of the west +coasts of France, Spain, and of the islands off the coast of Africa. +The Celtic province is that to which most of the British coasts +belong; and it is a subject of great interest to know that many of +the kinds of shelly mollusca, which are now living, lived in the last +geological ages, and their remains are found fossil; so that the +condition of the coast-lines and shores and a part of the assemblage +of animals and plants now living on them have a remote ancestry. + +It is by no means easy to say where the seashore begins landward. +It may be limited by cliffs and mountain-ground, so that there is +but little shore, and the tide-water then comes up the sides of the +cliff; and it may reach for miles inland, among salt marshes, the +ditches of which have salt water and marine animals and plants in +them. Again, even when the shore is perfectly limited inland, there +are proofs that the sea is near, long before it is reached. Trees +usually get scarce, and often those which are seen are much gnarled +and bent and covered with lichens. A new set of flowering plants is +noticed, and the old favorites of the meadow and wood are absent; +and grasses, reeds, rushes, and many singular plants straggle on +the sand and pebbles, out of the range of the tide, but within that +of the spray sent in by a high wind. Common observation has enabled +even the most unscientific collectors of plants to recognize what +may be called a maritime, coast, or shore flora, just as they can +distinguish a marsh, mountain, or wood flora beyond the range of the +sea. A flora is the name for all the plants of a district, and it +has been found that the seaside and seashore floras of these islands +are very rich in kinds. Indeed, there are many little local floras +included in the great seaside one, for the landscape, the nature +of the rocks, and the vegetation of the shore, differ greatly in +different parts. Each particular landscape by the sea, and every kind +of soil there, has its little set of peculiar plants, some liking +limestone, others clay, many rejoicing in sand, and some even finding +nourishment among the highest pebbles. + +Hence, on walking round British coasts, the plants, as a whole, +will differ from those found inland, and at every turn or change of +rock and scenery new kinds appear. But many of the inland plants do +go down far to the seaside, and the art of gardening and all sorts +of accidents have dispersed many plants which originally were not +dwellers near the sea; and, on the contrary, they have also removed +seaside plants, like sea-kale and asparagus, inland and into our +gardens. In many places, however, and where the sea comes up very +close, the inland plants are not found. There is a very remarkable +thing about this seashore and seaside flora, and it is this, that +nearly all the important groups, families, or genera of inland plants +have a kind or two in it, and that there are few extraordinary +novelties which would enable us to say that such a set of plants was +destined for the seaside. Thus the pod-bearing order, which contains +the pea, bean, clover, and such plants, has many species which are +only found near the sea. The toothed medick (Medicago denticulatus), +and the common melilot, love sand and gravel near the sea; the star +clover lives on a shingly beach near Shoreham; while two kinds of the +genus lotus live on dry places, two being found near the sea in Devon +and Cornwall. There is a vetch, with a pale purple flower, on the +pebbly beach of Weymouth, and another of a sulphur-color likes such +situations. Even the poppy order has a kind with large golden-yellow +flowers, with seed-cases from 6 to 12 inches long, living on sandy +seashores; and this “horned poppy” has a very interesting companion, +for a poppy with a bluish-white flower with a violet spot lives in +the fens and on sandy ground near the sea, and it is the kind which +yields opium. The cruciferous plants, of which the wall-flower, +the rocket, cabbage, mustard, etc., are examples, are well and +interestingly represented at the sea. There is a sea-stock living on +the sandy seacoasts of Wales, Cornwall, and Jersey. The wild cabbage, +the parent of all domestic cabbages, lives on cliffs by the sea; a +wild mustard is at St. Aubin’s Bay, Jersey; a white draba, not very +unlike the common whitlow grass, is on sandhills by the sea in Islay. +The scurvy grasses are all found on seashores, and constitute a +shore group. Finally, there are the purple sea-rocket and sea-kale, +loving sandy shores, and there is a rare wild sea-radish. Among +other well-known inland orders of plants, such as the violets, there +is a rare one with its flowers wholly yellow, or yellow with the +upper part purple, living on sands by the sea. Of another order, the +tamarisk may be seen close to the waves on the Essex coast; even the +pink tribe has a sea bladder-campion, an alsine, and a cerastium. +Again, the tree mallow lives on rocks by the sea. The rose tribe are +certainly not lovers of the seashore, but there is one kind belonging +to the whitethorn tribe (Cotoneaster) which ornaments the rocks of +the Great Orme’s Head, in Carnarvonshire; and a solitary kind of the +thick-leaved plants, a sedum, lives there also, loving the limestone +soil. The Corrigiola littoralis of the southwest of England has +white-stalked flowers. The sea-holly, with its blue flowers in a head +or umbel, lives on sandy seashores; the wild fennel, the Scottish +lovage, and the fleshy-leaved, whitish-flowered samphire love rocks +by the sea. The sea-carrot lives on the southwestern coasts. + +The red valerian is found on chalk cliffs; but no other of its +tribe, or of the teazels or scabious set, is found particularly as +a seashore plant. Both the composite orders, of which the daisy +and the asters are examples, and which form so large a part of +the inland flora, have many seashore species. Thus, there is the +golden samphire, allied to the elecampane plant, the sea-diotis, +the sea-feverfew, and the sea-wormwood. There is, or was, a wild +cineraria on the rocks of Holyhead, and there is a thistle with pink +flowers which loves sandy places by the sea. The least lettuce likes +chalky places. One of the centaury kinds lives on sandy seashores, +and there is a seaside bindweed with very handsome pink flowers with +yellow bands. One of the bugloss tribe lives on northern seashores, +and there is a curious great snap-dragon which is to be found about +cliffs overhanging the sea. The primroses and pimpernels are not +inhabitants of the seashore, but two sets of plants, called glaux +and samolus, belonging to their order, frequent the shore and salt +marshes. Then there is the sea-lavender tribe with four kinds, all +living in England, or Ireland, on rocky shores and salt marshes; +and the thrift plant likes the shore as well as the mountain top, a +distribution which is noticed also in the sea-plantain. Many of the +spinach tribe, such as the glass worts, the sea-beet, the salsolas, +and the sea-purslane, inhabit the shores, and some of them were +formerly used in the preparation of barilla. Such a common thing as +the dock could hardly be found away from the sea, and there is really +a sea-dock found on the marshland; and the Channel Islands have a +sea-snake-weed. A thorny shrub with lancet-shaped silvery leaves, +and attaining the length of from four to six feet, frequents sandy +spots and cliffs, on the southeast and east coasts, and is called the +sea-buckthorn. There is also a sea-spurge. The wild asparagus, with +a stem not one-third of the height of the cultivated kind, but the +true parent of all asparagus, is a rare plant, but it has been found +at Kynance Cove, Cornwall, Callar Point, Pembroke, and at Gosford +Links in Scotland. Another important plant, the onion, has its +representatives on the rocks of Guernsey, and another called chives +is a Cornish cliff seaside dweller. The rushes have several kinds on +salt marshes and shores, and there is a plant called the zostera, +with long leaves, which flourishes under water on many parts of the +eastern coast. Belonging to the same botanical order is the Ruppia +maritima, found at Newhaven and Guernsey. + +The sea-sedges, a cat’s-tail grass, a foxtail grass, an agrostis, a +sea reed, and a common poa grass, with a root-like bulb, are familiar +objects on swampy seashores; and a whole group of grass plants +belonging to a tribe called Sclerochloa inhabit sandy seasides. The +couch-grass dwells there also; and the list may be closed by noticing +the sea-barley, a tiny plant, but loving sandy pastures near the sea. +And among the ferns a spleenwort lives on rocks over the sea. + +These are all plants of a complicated structure, and produce seed. +But those about to be noticed are the true sea-weeds, which have a +simple construction and belong to the cellular plants. + +Where the land-plant ends, the sea-weed begins, and as some flowering +plants or grasses come close to the edge of the high spring tide, so +some sea-weeds choose that position, and appear to like a dry time +for a while, and a refreshing return of the salt water at distant +intervals. + +One of these sea-weeds abounds on muddy seashores, at the entrance of +rivers and marshes, and positively adheres to the roots of flowering +plants. North Wales, Shoreham, the Essex coast, and the Shannon +are places where it is found in abundance. Moreover, like most of +the sea-weeds, it has a wide distribution, for it is found on the +Atlantic shores of Europe as far south as Spain. The plant is from +2 to 4 inches high, and consists of stems about as thick as stout +bristles. They branch and give off side-twigs, like the veins of +leaves in shape, and each ends in a curious curl. The whole plant +is limp, and easily squeezed flat. It is of a dull purple color, +and from its curl endings has received a Greek name, “bostrukos,” a +ringlet. Old authors called it “Amphibia,” from its locality, which +has just been noticed; and it is remarkable, because most of the +other red or reddish sea-weeds of its group live in deep water. + +Another sea-weed which lives at the very top of high-water mark, but +which is also found on the shores down to low-water mark, and still +lower, is a fine plant often growing a foot in height. Its stem is +round and solid, and branched in what is called a pinnate manner, +like a mimosa leaf. It is yellow or livid green in color, and is very +small and starved at high-water mark, but it grows larger and larger +until well under the sea. One of the kind is found on loose stones, +where a rill of pure fresh water runs into the sea. In Scotland it +was formerly eaten under the name of pepper dulse; but better things +are now to be had. It is named Laurencia after a French botanist. + +A membrane-like sea-weed, which grows upward with swellings like a +cactus which give it the appearance of a chain, is called the little +chain sea opuntia (Catenella Opuntia). It is also a dweller on rocks, +close up to high-tide mark, on our shores as far as the Orkneys. + +Often at high-water mark, and on wood and stones down to half-tide +level, there is a quantity of dark olive-green sea-weed, in small +tufts, getting larger nearer the sea, which often looks dried +up, shriveled, and crisp. It grows in tufts when the water goes +off rapidly, and it evidently requires exposure to the air for +several hours in the day. Nearer the ever-rolling sea the plant +grows larger. It is called the channeled fucus, and has an expanded +part or root, and a stem which branches in twos, and ends in two +long cones of softish stuff which contain the reproductive organs +or spores, called receptacles. It belongs to the same group of +sea-weeds as the commonest of all, or that which has air-bladders on +it and which crackle and burst under the feet. A differently colored +high-water-mark weed is found at Yarmouth, Bantry Bay, Torquay, and +Sunderland on sand-covered rocks. It lies prostrate and is of a pale +green color, forming masses or layers of excessively minute threads +of vegetable tissue. It belongs to the genus Codium. + +The sea-weeds called wracks or fucus are among the most common of +the dark greenish-olive kinds, and one of them lives in a curious +place on the shore. The stem or frond is from one to two feet long; +there is a kind of midrib to it, besides the cones or receptacles, +at the tip of each branch. It is common from Orkney to Cornwall in +many places, and is found where a good deal of fresh water mixes +with the sea, but it is not restricted to such peculiar positions, +for some of the most vigorous plants live in salt water, and some +very transparent and weak ones in brackish water. The common bladder +fucus is found everywhere on rocks and stones and wood left exposed +at low water, and on artificial quays in estuaries extending up +rivers as far as the water is decidedly brackish. Even in salt water +it is noticed to flourish. The plant or frond is in long, flat, thin +branches with a midrib, on either side of which are the bladders, +which contain air. The branches end in thick gummy-feeling masses, +which are turgid, rather pointed, and contain the spores. The color +is olive and it is lighter in the younger parts. It is found along +the shores of the Northern Atlantic, extending even to the tropics. +It is used as manure, and also in forming kelp for the purposes +of the manufacture of iodine. Cattle eat it in the winter, and of +late it has been used in baths. A larger kind of fucus grows from +high-tide mark to mid-tide level, and it has large swellings on its +stem, and the branches, which come off in whorls, are distended, +as it were. It is used in the kelp manufacture and for covering up +oysters. The Scotch shore-men call it the sea-whistle, for boys make +whistles out of the larger air-vessels. + +The serrate fucus, so called from its saw-like edges, has no +bladders, it clothes the rocks at half-tide level, is very common, +and is found on the western shores. + +On the rocky bottoms of submarine tide-pools, near low-water mark, +all round the coasts of Scotland and England, is a weed with narrow +fronds and pinnate ones of a lance-head shape, with spiny teeth on +their edges. It is a clear olive-brown plant, and gets a verdigris +tint when it is exposed. It is called the ligulate desmarestia. + +Perhaps more beautiful, but not more interesting than these kinds +of fucus, are the ulvæ, those broad, flat, wrinkled edged, green +sea-weeds, looking like half-transparent membranes. One of them, the +broad ulva, has a small disk by way of a root, and grows from six +to twenty inches in length and from three to twelve in breadth, in +tufts of different shapes. It is very common on all shores, on rocks +and stones between tide-marks, and extends downward to a depth of +ten fathoms. It has a wonderful geographical distribution, for, with +the exception of the coldest regions of the globe, it inhabits every +shore. It used to be eaten under the title of oyster green, being +prepared like laver; and the Icelanders used to, and perhaps may +still, ascribe an anodyne virtue to it. They bind it on the forehead +in fevers, writes a Scottish botanist. + +The other ulva, which is nearly as common as this, is smaller, and +grows in the form of an inflated bag, which opens and expands. It +is of a very bright and yellowish green, and it is thinner and more +delicate than the other kind. It is seldom seen except in spring or +early summer, on rocks, stones, and shells between tide-marks, and it +is generally distributed around British shores and those of Europe. + +A very common green weed, found between tide-marks and also in +ditches running into the sea, was supposed by its first describers +to resemble an entrail or intestine; hence it has been called +Enteromorpha intestinalis, from the Greek words _enteron_, entrail, +and _morpha_, form. It grows from a few inches to a foot or more +in length, and from a line to three or four inches in diameter. +Seen where it is attached to a stone, it is like a tube, hollow, +membrane-like, and green; but further out it is larger and swells +out into an irregular bag, crisped and curled here and there. It is +very common all over the world, and finds its way sometimes into +fresh water. The Rev. J. Pollexfen notices that it is prepared for +culinary purposes by the Japanese for an ingredient in their soups. + +The other common green Enteromorpha is called “the compressed.” It +is in the form of a branching green, delicate tube, flattened here +and there; and it clothes rocks between tide-marks, being sometimes +as fine as a hair. It gets narrower at its attachment and is broad +at the ends. Near high-water mark it forms a short, shaggy pile of +slender fronds spreading over rocks and stones, and most treacherous +to the stepping of unwary feet, being most slippery. A little lower +down, in the rock-pools, it is larger, tubular, branched, and thin +near the root; and where fresh water runs in close to it, the fronds +get larger, broader, and more inflated. Almost everything on floating +timber or on stone is this kind of weed. From being more or less +tubular, these Enteromorphæ have a double green membrane. Now there +is a beautiful ribbon-shaped ulva which has this double formation +and which is found at half-tide level. It is long, even reaching to +two feet, and is only half an inch to two inches broad. Very elegant +and graceful are its tapering, curling, wrinkling, and plaiting of +the edges; it is called Ulva linza, and is of a bright green color. +Among the commonest of the small green sea-weeds are the confervæ, +hairy-like green threads, which collect in layers and fleeces and +cover much surface, or wave in the rock-pools. One kind called the +sandy conferva lives at half-tide level at Bantry Bay and also in +Scotland at Appin. It forms fleeces a yard or more in extent, made +up of thin layers placed over each other, but so slightly connected +that they may be separated like gauze, for some inches, without +breaking. The hairs or filaments are five or six inches long and +are rather rigid; they are very long-pointed, and consist of a +delicate tube membrane which incloses a series of long cells. Another +conferva, found attached to other sea-weeds at Bantry Bay, Berwick, +Firth of Forth, and Torquay, has its filaments forming densely +interwoven layers which cling over their supporting plant. It is of a +dark green color. A third frequents salt pools by the edge of the sea +and rocks at half-tide level. It is a very twisted thing, and forms +crisped layers from a few inches to several feet thick, which closely +adhere to the inequalities of the rock, or to the plants which grow +on it. It is of a glossy brilliant green color, and is called the +tortuous conferva. + +There is a pretty green hair-like plant which branches and gives off +branchlets on one side more than on the other. It comes from a little +group of stems on a stone, and forms a small stunted but very elegant +bush, three or four inches high. This cladophora lives in the purest +and clearest sea-water only, and in rocky pools left by the tide near +low-water mark. It is only got at low spring tides at Dingle and +Dublin, and it evidently likes the cool sea-water and darkness. A +sea-weed called the Adherent Codium forms a velvet-like pile on the +surface of rocks in the southwest of England near low-water mark, but +it is rare. Sometimes the green velvet-looking film may be three feet +across, and it consists of myriads of short cylindrical filaments +with simple club-shaped hairs on them. It is soft and gelatinous, +sticks to paper, and appears to grow slowly. Another codium, called +the amphibious, has been mentioned already. It occupies a different +position on the shore to the other. It frequents turf banks on the +west of Ireland, in County Galway, where the bog touches the shore. +It is a very mesh of entangled filaments, and it dries up to almost +nothing in dry weather, and increases and grows again on the coming +of the welcome tide, spray, or rain. There is also a large codium +with branches, which looks like a sponge. + +Barnacles and shells, living at low-water mark, in exposed situations +on the western shores of Scotland and Ireland, Falmouth, and the +Land’s End, have a weed upon them of a purplish-brown color like +a “crop of threads” (Nemaleon) of from three to ten inches long. +They are slender, solid, and divide in twos from a little expanded +base. In some places it chooses particular positions, and in our +Irish localities it grows in shallow pools on the granite rocks, and +nowhere else. + +A common weed, sometimes twenty inches in length, varies from pale +yellow in shallow water to dark purple in deeper places; it lives +at half-tide level, and is made up of tubular fronds filled with +watery gelatine. Its tube swells, here and there, and bends at the +end in a curious manner. It is called, after a French naturalist, +Dumontia. Another weed with a cylindrical stem has many branches, +and has swellings at their origin like so many knots. These are +air-vessels and help to support the plant, which is rather leathery. +It is found on the English and Irish shores, and is called the +bladder chain-weed (Cystoseira). But the most elegant of the weeds +with air-bladders is called the sea oak (Halidrys) and it is found +commonly on rocks and stones in the sea, below half-tide level. The +fronds are from one to four feet in length, and the branches bear +numerous long pods with compartments in them, the whole looking like +a mustard-pod, and these are the air-chambers. + +The waving, slender, long weed, so slimy to the touch, and which is +so abundant on all British shores--the dread of the bather when it +forms submarine meadows, over mud flats--is called the cord-weed +(Corda filum). It is sometimes forty feet, but usually from one to +twenty feet in length, and is not twice as thick as a bristle where +it starts from a stone, tapering and clothed with delicate hair, +getting wider in the middle, and slender and hairy at the top. + +There are some remarkable sea-weeds, which certainly do not look like +things belonging to the sea, but rather to the land, where lichens +and fungi live on stones and trees. One often is called rivularia, +and is found on rocks, at half-tide level, on the southern shores of +England, and in the South and west of Ireland. It incrusts the rocks, +rising in short lobes, and it feels fleshy and firm. It begins with +a globe-shaped substance, which sends forth ragged-looking pieces; +and although it is so dense, the surface is covered with a close pile +of exquisite filaments. Many a dark rock, otherwise perfectly barren +at the end of summer, is clothed with the bright green patches of +this singular weed. Another of these incrusting things is often as +round as a half-crown, and looks like a lichen. It is leathery, and +gets ragged and warty with age, and is of a coffee-brown color. It is +called Ralfsia, after Mr. Ralf. A third kind looks like a flat thin +clot or stain of blood; hence its name cruoria, from “cruor,” blood. +It forms a scum on the smooth, exposed rocks between tide-marks, and +is especially abundant in the west of Ireland and Jersey. The patches +are from one to three inches in diameter, and their edges are very +clearly curved; they are brown and red, and the hairs or filaments of +which they are composed are purplish red. It can be removed in flakes +with a knife. + +Many sea-weeds are found upon others; and indeed some of the most +beautiful kinds are thus parasitic upon larger ones. An instance of +this occurs to one of the humble crust-like weeds which is found on +pebbles at half-tide mark. So small is the parasite that a slight +magnifying power is required to make it distinct, and then it is +found to be made up of thousands of minute forked threads, each of +which consists of several long cells, one placed before the other, +and some of the cells are large and egg-shaped, and contain the seeds +or spores. It is called the Myrionema, from two Greek words which +mean numberless thread. + +The next great group of sea-weeds to be noticed on the shore has many +more kinds below low-water mark, where they are never uncovered, +than above. They are the great dark, olive-colored, ribbon-shaped, +wavy-edged weeds, which have a tough skin and roots, which adhere +to rocks, and which are called tangles and laminariæ by botanists. +Their proper position, as a rule, is not on the shore, for they +almost characterize a particular zone of depth; but there are kinds +to be met with on rocks and timber, close to the low-water mark, +and on the shore. Some of them are very remarkable when they are +placed, as they are in the north of England, on the sea-beaten parts +of white or gray rocks. They then often form a dense layer--a sort +of black, moving fringe, which is sometimes uncovered. Most of them +flourish in the most boisterous seas, and it would appear that those +which may, with some reason, be called shore-plants, because they +are close to low-water mark, and now and then uncovered, are smaller +and more delicate. Thus one kind, which has been called the weak, +or the papery tangle (Laminaria fascia), has a stem not bigger than +a bristle, which gradually widens into a frond about twelve inches +long and two broad. It is greenish or brownish-olive in color, and is +very fragile. It has the remarkable geographical distribution which +is very common to all those weeds living on the brink of the sea, for +it is found as far off as the Falkland Islands. On British coasts it +covers sandy rocks and stones near low-water mark, and is to be found +in the north of Ireland, the western islands of Scotland, and the +southwest of England. + +Another kind fringes precipitous rocks at low-water mark, and is +abundant on the shores of Scotland and of the north and west of +Ireland, the west and southwest coasts of England, and the northeast +coast. Mr. Harvey notices it as one of the kind luxuriating in a +furious sea, although its frond can be readily torn with the hand. It +has a stem as thick as a quill, and a root of many branching fibres. +The frond, or ribbon-shaped leaf, is from three to twenty feet in +length, and only grows three to eight inches broad. It has a midrib +running down its whole length, and the following peculiarities: there +are many little leaflets on either side of the stem before it merges +into the broad frond, and the surface is perforated with small pores, +out of which come tufts of shred-like fibres. It seems to be an +everlasting weed, and the first growth in the frond occurs from the +stem. + +The new parts are lighter colored than the old, and after a while +intersection takes place, where the new part joins the old, and +the old leaf falls. This plant, from the side leaves giving it a +winged appearance, is called the Alaria (from _ala_, a wing), and it +is eaten in some parts of Scotland and Ireland. The midrib is the +delicacy, but it is very insipid. The Scottish name is badderlocks, +or henware, and the Irish, murlins. + +A most graceful and delicate tangle is to be found on the south and +east coasts of England, all round Scotland, and at Bantry Bay, Howth, +Balbriggan, and Kingston, in Ireland, on rocks and stones in pools +left by the tide. When fresh, it is a clear brown-olive in color, +and it changes to green when dry or when placed in fresh water. The +leaf comes from a stalked root, tapers to the end, is frilled at the +sides, and may be from six inches to three or more feet in length, +and from one to six inches broad. It is thin, but is traversed by a +double layer of large air-cells. + +There is a large tangle which goes by the name of furbelows; and when +spread out on the shore may make a circle of fronds twelve feet in +diameter. It is a clear brown-olive in color, and the root gives rise +to a stem with large hollow knobs on it. The leaf is oblong, and is +deeply split into many parts. The plant grows on rocks at low-water +mark, and is abundant. + +But the commonest of all these tangles, with its long stem and +branching roots, and beautiful, slippery, crumpled leaf, forms a +belt, about low-water mark, round rocky shores, where its long, +ribbon-like fronds wave gracefully in the water. When it is in deeper +water it is much larger, and is then called the broad-leaved tangle. +The great tangles which are employed to form kelp are not shore +plants, but live covered with water. + +The gems of the seashore are, however, not the olive and green +weeds, but the red kinds, and they abound. There is a very large +and handsome one, which is rare in deep, shady pools at extreme +low-water mark, but which is often washed up in storms, about the +southwest coast of England, Bantry Bay, Antrim, Down, and Orkney. It +is somewhat kidney-shaped, in the outlines of the large blood-red +fronds, and has a stout, round stem. It is made up of three layers, +and some plants are male, and others are female. This plant is called +Kalymenia, from the Greek words that mean beautiful and membrane. +Another kind of the Kalymenia, found at Falmouth, Plymouth, and +Bantry Bay, is something like a short, broad tangle with crisped +leaves in shape. It is red, and the root is a disk, and the fronds +are about a foot in length. It is found on rocks and stones, within +tide-marks, in land-locked bays. It is very thin and delicate, and +may be compared with a totally different-feeling red sea-weed, which +has flat fronds of irregular shape, fringed with little leaflets, +the whole being half-gristly to the touch, and of a dull purplish +color. It is common on the shores of the south and west of Ireland +and Jersey. The root is very fibrous, and altogether it is a most +peculiar weed. There is another of these leathery weeds which grows +to some size, and has well-grown leaflets on its edges, besides large +circular markings on its purple surface, which is pretty common +everywhere. They belong to the genus Rhodymenia, so called from the +Greek words red and membrane. + +The last kind is the dulse of the Scotch, and the dillisk of the +Irish. Mr. Harvey thus notices its edible peculiarities: “In Ireland +and Scotland this plant is much used by the poor as a relish for +their food. It is commonly dried, in its unwashed state, and eaten +raw, the flavor being brought out by long chewing. On many parts of +the west of England it forms the only addition to potatoes in the +meals of the poorest class. The variety which grows on mussel shells +between tide-marks is preferred, being less tough than other forms, +and the minute mussel-shells and other small shell-fish which adhere +to its folds are nowise unpleasing to the consumers of this simple +luxury, who rather seem to enjoy the additional _goût_ imparted by +the crunched mussels. In the Mediterranean this plant is used in a +cooked form, entering into ragouts and made dishes; and it formed a +chief ingredient in one of the soups recommended under the name of +St. Patrick’s Soup by M. Soyer to the starving Irish peasantry.” It +should be noticed that Dr. Harvey was keeper of the herbarium in the +University of Dublin, and that he wrote in 1846. + +Another dark-red sea-weed, which is very iridescent, when waving +under water at low spring tides, is also said to be eaten in +Cornwall, but, Harvey says, more by women than men. It is called the +Edible Iridæa from its rainbow colors, is about six inches in length, +is gristly to the touch, and is rather like a battledore in shape. + +The supposed luxury which is served at the tables of many, and which +is called laver in England, and sloke, sloak, or sloukawn in Ireland, +comes from some sea-weeds which are delicately membranaceous, flat, +and more or less purple. The color gives the name Porphyra, from the +Greek word “porphuros,” purple. One kind is something like a large, +crumpled lettuce-leaf in shape, without the veins and stalk, and the +other, which is the commonest, has a long frond like a tangle, of one +or two feet long; but there is no long stalk. The edges are crisped, +and the end of the frond is rather sharp and long. It is very thin, +glossy, and more or less of a vivid purple. It is abundant on rocks +and stones between tide-marks on our British shores, and is an annual. + +There is a handsome sea-weed called Nitophyllum punctatum, “a +shining leaf.” It is of a rose-red color, and its membranaceous frond +has its edge cleft; it is veinless, or has irregular veins toward +its base. The thin expansion is very delicate, and is characterized +by the want of “nervures” or veins, and the presence of spots or +tubercles immersed in it. These are large, oblong, and very general, +and contain the spores. In other plants of the same kind the spots +contain tetraspores. The root is from a small disk, and the fronds +grow in small tufts from twelve to twenty inches in length. They are +attached to other weeds at low-water mark; and are found on rocks +down to fifteen fathoms. It is very abundant on the coast of Antrim, +and all round the British coasts. + +A rose-red filamentous sea-weed being from two to six inches in +height, with the stems not much thicker than bristles, their fronds +being long, is found on rocks near low-water mark, and generally +in deep pools from Orkney to Cornwall. It is called Griffithsia +Corallina. + +Other kinds of Rhodymenia are common on rocks and stones, or on the +stems of the tangles, near the very verge of low-water, or higher +up. One found in the first situation is most common in the southwest +of England, but is found everywhere on the British shores. It has +a little disk for a root, and a long, slender stem, rather round +near the root and flat above, where it gradually expands into a red +membrane in the shape of a fan. But it is not whole, for it rather +resembles a skeleton of a fan with notches at the edges, a dark spot +being at their ends. The whole may be four inches long. The other +kind is purplish, and the stem has branches, each of which ends in a +ragged fan. It has little knobs on the side of the stem and on the +membraneous parts which bear the spores. It is sometimes called by +another generic name, that of leaf-bearer, or Phyllophora. + +A rose-red sea-weed which has a midrib along all its thin branching +fronds, and which is like a flat miniature bushy tree, is common all +round British coasts, between tide-marks and more deeply. The tips of +the fronds have little bodies on them which are whiter than the rest, +and which contain peculiar spores, and there are also little knobs +or tubercles which are attached to the midrib, and these contain +another kind of spore. It belongs to a number of sea-weeds which have +been named Delesseria, after Baron Delessert, a former distinguished +botanist. Another, which is called Delesseria sanguinea, from its +blood-red, or rather rose-fed color, has a frond like a laurel-leaf, +but it is crumpled at the edges. It is thin, has a midrib, and +several spring from a stalk. Little fronds come from the midrib, in +the middle of the larger fronds. It is one of the many weeds that +fruit in winter time, and it is to be found in deep rock-pools, +between tide-marks, and generally at the shady side of the pool under +projecting ledges of rock. It is a great favorite, and grows to a +considerable size, the fronds reaching sometimes ten inches in length. + +Perhaps the most beautiful of the red weeds is found on rocks, and +on other sea-weeds, at low-water mark. It resembles a number of +skeleton leaves on a stem dyed a fine red, for the frond is not a +membrane, but a number of branching threads or hairs, and it arises +from a stem. It is from six to eight inches in length, and is named +Dasya, from _dasus_, the Greek for hairy. It is much used for +ornamental purposes in the collections of sea-weeds. + +One of these dissected skeleton-leaved sea-weeds is found on rocks +and on other sea-weeds, near low-water mark around British coasts. +It is a tender and soft plant of a fine carmine color, and it arises +from a stem, which, after growing for a while, branches in twos. Then +side-twigs come off opposite each other, and one on either side of +the stems and branches, and numerous hairy-looking projections arise +from the upper edge of each of the twigs. Each hairy process has +others on one side of it, and some of them bear little bulbs which +contain the spores. It is singularly regular in its growth, and, as +it is small, it looks well under low magnifying power. It is a pretty +shrub-like thing, and hence its name beautiful little shrub, or +Callithamnion. Another Callithamnion is that branching weed which is +seen waving under water upon the stems and fronds of the tangle. It +is a robust and shrubby-looking weed, which, even when dry, retains +some of its elegance of form. It is of a brownish-red color, and when +fresh water is added it becomes of a brilliant orange tint, and gives +out a rose-colored powder. + +One of the many instances in which one kind of sea-weed is much more +luxurious in growth on the Irish than on the British shore is noticed +in the case of a beautiful skeleton-looking, crisp, red weed called +“Wrangelia,” after a Swedish naturalist. Its fine stem has little +whorls of fibrils one above the other, so that it presents a most +strange resemblance to the common horsetails of our marsh ground. +Branches come off from the whorls, which, horsetail fashion, have +their bracelets on successive whorls. It has a root of fibres, and +a good-sized specimen would cover a quarto page of paper. They are +found on the steep sides of pools near low-water mark, under the +shade of other sea-weeds, and they are to be picked on the south of +England, Jersey, Belfast, and the west of Ireland. + +The braided-hair weed, Plocamium, from plokamos, braided hair, is the +pinky-red, ribless, much-branched, rather gristly weed, which, from +its elegant arborescence and beautiful color, is an especial favorite +with the workers in ornamental sea-weed decorations. It is cast up +in quantities on the British shores; but, as a rule, it lives beyond +the shore, that is to say, below low-tide level. Another equally +common weed has a slightly darker red color, and its frond is horny, +flat, branching in twos, and with little fronds on the edges. It is +found from the very verge of high water to the extreme of low water, +fringing the margins of the rock-pools, and is very common. From its +hard condition and horny nature it has been called Gelidium, from +_gelu_, frost. The beautiful red weed, whose resemblance to a great +branching tree pressed flat is so great, and which bears thousands +of little berry-looking knobs on short stalks, on the sides of its +fronds, is called Sphærococcus, or globe-fruit or berry. It is not +known on the eastern coast of Britain, but is common on the Irish +shores at extreme low-water mark. Another red weed, with a dull +purple color, has a frond of from six inches to two feet in length, +and every minute ramification of its skeleton-leaved frond has one or +more berry-shaped swellings. It is common all round the coast within +tide-marks, and has been called after a genus of mosses, Hypnæa. + +The last kinds of filamentous, or skeleton-leaved red weeds, to be +noticed, are remarkable for their tufty nature, their spreading out +in water and showing tree-like branching from a stem, which, when +magnified, is seen to be made up of many long cells placed side by +side. Some live between tides on rocks, and others at the edge of low +tide, but the most interesting are parasitic upon other weeds. From +their many-tubed nature they are called Polysiphonia. The parasitic +kind (so named) is rather rare, and settles on some of the calcareous +weeds. The lanceolate kind is found on the stems and fronds of +the tangle; and a dark red species, called Formosa, is found near +low-water mark. Brodie’s Polysiphonia is known by the little tufts of +branches which come from the main branches, and it has a good stem. +It is found on corallines and on rocks. + +The fibrous Polysiphonia has tufts at the end of its branches, and +is found on mussel-shells; and the violet kind is brownish-red or +purple, has a small root-like disk, and fronds which are from six to +ten inches in length. It is feathery and much branched. + +It has been noticed that some sea-weeds are parasitic, or live +on others, fixed certainly, but whether they get any nourishment +through their roots is doubtful. One of these is very common on Fuci, +the bladder one especially; and it occurs as dense little tufts on +the leaves. These, when examined, are found to be made up of long, +flaccid, olive-colored hair-like filaments, about an inch in length. +They rise from a little hard spot, and form a tuft with a broad +circular outline. They belong to a genus called Elachista, from the +Greek word for “the least.” The hairy Ceramium is a tufty weed, which +is sometimes parasitic and sometimes not. It has a very peculiar +shape, being made up of filaments placed side by side in great +numbers, but they branch and rebranch, have little whorls of minute +prickles along them, and the ends curl gracefully. + +Among the more remarkable sea-weeds is the Carrageen, or Irish moss. +It is a very variable plant in its color and shape, and it may be a +yellowish-green, a livid purple, or of a brownish tint, and it may +be in the shape of a wrinkled, crumpled fern, or of a bush. It has +a root-stem, reaches a foot in height, and the largest are found in +estuaries where mud comes down with fresh water. The weed is found +abundantly on the shores of Great Britain, and formerly was used in +the place of isinglass for making blanc-mange, an edible which has +degenerated with the progress of imitative culinary art. It was a +fashionable remedy for consumption, and many of the peasantry of the +west coast of Ireland used to collect it. + +A most extraordinary fan-shaped sea-weed has a root covered with +woolly filaments and fronds, from two to five inches in length, wide +at the base, and expanding in almost perfect half-circles. The frond +is curved, marked across, and has a disposition to form funnel-shaped +pieces. A fringe of orange-colored filaments is on the markings, and +at the edge, which is often strongly rolled inward. The outer surface +is covered with a kind of whitish powder. The general color is yellow +and olive, with a dash of red. This peacock-tail weed is found on +rocks in shallow pools, on parts of the south of England coast, and +is abundant at Torquay. It is remarkable for being an extension, +northward, of a common tropical sea-weed. + +A very common plant is to be found, either growing in little tufts +on the rocks at low-tide mark, or as a waif cast up by the waves, in +bunches, near where the coast contains rocks or earths which have +carbonate of lime in them. It is also a dweller in deeper water on +the floor of the sea, and oftentimes it may be seen waving lightly +in a rock-pool; but it does not look like a plant. There are no +leafy fronds, and it does not resemble any other common sea-weed in +outside appearance. It has a stony look, and is hard to the touch; it +will stand a pinch, and although it may break into separate pieces +it can hardly be crushed by the finger and thumb. Usually, as seen +by most people, it is of a glistening white color, with some purple +about it, and is made up of a number of joints. The coralline, for +so it is called, has a sort of broad crust where it adheres to the +rock, which gives out a stem. This stem is slender, and is made up +of many pieces, placed one before the other, narrow where they join, +and rather swollen in the middle or at the end. Other pieces, usually +two, come off from the piece at the joint, and there may be hundreds +of them or only a few. The end of the plant is made up of tufts of +pieces, some of which have a little hole in the end, as if there were +a hollow place. Now, if the spots where the pieces join be looked +at carefully, there appears to be something like very thin threads +uniting one piece to another, and they are not covered, as all the +rest is, with the glistening white stuff, which feels gritty between +the teeth. These corallines, if placed in vinegar, begin to bubble as +if they were made up of chalk, and their outsides are composed of a +mineral called carbonate of lime. After a while the vinegar dissolves +all the hard white part, and leaves the threads, which are now seen +to run the whole length of the coralline. These threads are portions +of vegetable fibre, and constitute the inside stem as it were, which +is surrounded by a sort of bark of carbonate of lime. + +[Illustration: Lichens and Small Fungi + +1, Lecanora; 2, Opeographa; 3, Parmelia; 4, Cetraria Islandica; 5, +11, Cladonia; 6, Usnea Barbata; 7, Red Wart Fungus; 8, Pertusaria; 9 +Bæomyses; 10, Erysiphe; 12, Cyanthus] + +But this is only a popular manner of explaining, for if more care +is taken, it will be found that, although some fibres run through +more than one joint, others, when they are in the midst of a piece, +turn outward from the middle, and come near the surface where the +carbonate of lime is. There they end in delicate bags or cells in +rows, the last of which is quite at the surface; so that the outside +of the pieces is made up of a mass of these small microscopic +cells, and the rest of the long fibres. The older the plant, the +more carbonate of lime is there in this mass of cells; but in very +young plants, in the spring of the year, there is but little of the +mineral, and they may sometimes be got quite soft. They are then +short little stumps fixed on to the expanded root, which sticks on +to stones, and they are not white, but of a beautiful claret or +port-wine color, the joints, where the fibres are, being greenish +or without color. This immature plant can be examined with the +microscope, and then the secret of how the carbonate of lime is +put in is divulged. First, it appears that any part of the young +coralline which is growing, does not have any of the opaque mineral +in it, and that the fibres never have it in them, nor has a very +delicate skin which covers the whole, and which is very difficult +to get a sight of, for it is easily washed off. By putting a young +piece in weak acid, bubbles come out, and every now and then one +blows up this exquisitely thin pavement-looking film from off the +surface. It is then seen to be made up of flat cells, placed side by +side, and colorless. This is the important tissue by which the plant +lives, for it exists long after all within is hard. It is always +growing and being repaired; and in the tropics, where the water is +warm, the little cells of it are covered with very long hairs, and, +indeed, they may sometimes be traced in English specimens. Leaving +these outside cells and the membrane for a while, it is necessary to +consider those beneath, and which are more or less connected with the +long fibres of the joints. A row of these more deeply seated cells +is on the outside, just beneath the membrane, and other rows are +deeper and deeper still, until the ends of the fibres are seen +to end, as it were, in contact with the innermost. The outer row +of all these is of a pale green color, and gradually the port-wine +tint comes with depth from the edge. Each of the cells of these rows +is not quite covered with the hard mineral, and they communicate +their fluid contents to another; and it is found that it is between +the cells that the carbonate of lime is deposited, and which can be +dissolved out by vinegar. As soon as a set of cells has done growing, +the mineral is deposited, invests, and comes outside them, until +it invades the delicate membranes of their bag as well. How does +this plant live? and where does it get its lime from? It does not +absorb anything by its root, for it is placed on a stone, but all +nourishment enters by the thin outside layer. + +In all sea-water there is some organic stuff or sea soup, the +result of the decomposition of tiny things, and there is some air +in the water which contains oxygen and nitrogen and carbonic acid. +Under the influence of life, the organic stuff is absorbed by the +cell-membrane, and is rendered useful to the rest of the plant, into +whose cells, not quite walled up by carbonate of lime, it enters like +sap, and circulates. The carbonate of lime can only get in by there +being some minute quantity in the sea-water, and there is sufficient +in the chalky spots and limestone shores, not only dissolved by the +sea-water, but held in suspension by it. The water is ever on the +move, passing over the coralline, and in a few weeks a few grains, +for they make a great show, are absorbed and deposited in it. Small +sea-snails browse on the corallines, and have to thank them for their +lime, which is necessary for their shell. + +There are some other plants found at low-tide marks which are +calcareous, but instead of being jointed, like the corallines, they +form irregular and rounded little blocks, or simple papery-looking +expansions on some of the larger-leaved sea-weeds. They are usually +white and hard, and no one would consider them to be of a vegetable +nature were their microscopic anatomy not known. They have a great +resemblance in mineral structure to the coralline, and are called +Melobesia or Nullipores. + +The sea-weeds are, as may have been gleaned from the last few pages, +divisible into red, olive, or dark and green kinds, and one of their +most interesting studies relates to the method of reproduction. +Many sea-weeds are annual and die in the winter, so they must be +reproduced by seed, or something like it; others are of two or more +years’ growth, and outlive the winter, but in the end they must +have some method of perpetuating their kind. Some are perennial, or +constantly growing. Certain kinds are only found in the spring and +summer, others are always to be met with, and some produce spores, or +the matter out of which future weed grows, in summer, and others in +the autumn and winter. The geographical range of some of the British +sea-weeds is immense, and not a few kinds are found at the Antipodes. + + + + + SARGASSUM + --CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD + + +Among the many remarkable phenomena connected with the Gulf Stream +not the least remarkable is the existence of those floating meadows +of sea-weed commonly known as the Gulf-weed or Sargassum, whose +accumulations, within certain parallels of latitude and longitude, +have given to that area the name of the Sargasso Sea. These marine +prairies, as they have been called, have attracted the notice of all +navigators since the time of Columbus, who, in his first voyage, +received his earliest check upon falling in with them. The great +pioneer entered the Sargasso Sea in lat. 26° N., and long. 48° +W., and his timid shipmates at once took fright at the marvelous +appearance, feeling assured that their ships would be entangled in +the weed until they were starved to death, or that they were about +to strike on some unknown coast. In this part, he says, “the sea was +covered with such a quantity of sea-weed, like little branches of the +fir-trees which bear the pistachio nuts, that we believed the ships +would run aground for want of water.” They could not understand how +such vast quantities of vegetation could merely float on the surface, +and the appearance of a lobster among the weed confirmed their fears; +and deeming it necessary that they must be either in, or approaching +shoal water, they entreated the heroic discoverer to turn the ship’s +head. But happily he never wavered, and on the tropic, in long. 66°, +the first vessel which had ever entered the Sargasso Sea emerged +again into clear water. + +The extent of the Sargasso Sea is in due proportion to the vast +natural agency to which it primarily owes its existence. It stretches +from 20° to about 65° West longitude, and from between the parallels +of 20° and 45° is of considerable width, narrowing from 12° in its +widest part to about 4° or 5° where least developed; while the +remaining 20° of westerly extent takes the form of a narrow belt +of various detached tracts, influenced as to situation by local +currents, and averaging 4° or 5° only in width. An idea may be +obtained of its area by the comparison of Maury, who states that it +is equal to the great valley of the Mississippi; or still better, +perhaps, from Humboldt’s estimate, that it was about six times as +large as the Germany of his day. + +But, although the geographical boundaries given above are those +usually recognized by hydrographers for the Sargasso Sea, it must not +be supposed that they are invariable. It may, however, be correctly +stated, that it occupies the great sweep made by the Azores, +Canaries, and Cape de Verde Islands in the East; while the elongated +westerly belt extends as far as between the Bermudas and West Indian +islands. + +The earlier navigators often found the Gulf-weed a serious impediment +to their progress. Lærius mentions that for fifteen continuous +days he passed through one unbroken meadow (Praderias de yerva, or +sea-weed prairies, as Oviedo characteristically calls them), so that +he could find no way through for oars. On certain occasions it has +been found that the speed of vessels through the Sargasso Sea has +been materially retarded; and it has been described as so thick that, +to the eye, at a little distance it appears to be substantial enough +to walk upon. + +That this is not the condition met with under all circumstances +is proved by the fact that passing through this region in 1867, +the writer made a seven days’ voyage through its central portion, +during which the sea was at no time covered with the weed, so as to +form a continuous meadow. It made its appearance usually in large +patches, generally upon the surface, but sometimes apparently sunk +to some distance below it. It varied considerably in appearance--was +sometimes dark-colored, dense, and compact, and covered with berries; +at others, pale and attenuated, with few berries. The masses, on +some days were round and shapely, and usually scattered somewhat +indiscriminately over the surface of the sea. Occasionally only a +few small tufts appeared for many hours; and on one day the only +sign of its presence was a long narrow streak, extending across the +ocean as far as the eye could reach in the direction of the wind. +The fact, indeed, is that the Sargasso Sea, dependent as it is upon +a great physical phenomenon, changes its position according to the +seasons, storms, and winds: its mean position remaining the same +as it has been ascertained by observations during many years past. +The Gulf Stream is the great power which maintains these marine +pastures--a current whose impulse and origin, according to Humboldt, +are to be sought to the south of the Cape of Good Hope--after a +long circuit it pours itself from the Caribbean Sea and the Mexican +Gulf through the Straits of the Bahamas, and following a course from +south-southwest to north-northeast, continues to recede from the +shores of the United States until, further deflected to the eastward +by the banks of Newfoundland, it approaches the European coast. +At the point where the Gulf Stream is deflected from the banks of +Newfoundland toward the east, it sends off branches to the south near +the Azores. This is the situation of the Sargasso Sea. + +Patches of the weed are always to be seen floating along the outer +edge of the Gulf Stream. Now, if bits of cork, or chaff, or any +floating substance, says Captain Maury, be put in a basin, and a +circular motion be given to the water, all the light substances will +be found crowding together near the centre of the pool, where there +is the least motion. Just such a basin is the Atlantic Ocean to the +Gulf Stream; and the Sargasso Sea is the centre of the whirl. + +The Gulf-weed itself has so peculiar a history that it forms not the +least remarkable point of interest in the description of the Sargasso +Sea. It is one of the numerous species of the genus Sargassum, +which is among the most natural and readily distinguished genera of +the family of Fucaceæ. The great cryptogamist, Agardh, enumerates +sixty-two species of Sargassum, of which the one concerning which +we are speaking is the Sargassum bacciferum, called Fucus natans by +Linnæus, and Fucus sargasso by Gmelin. The Spanish word Sargazo, or +Sargaço, meaning sea-weed, supplies its common English name. + +The integument is leathery and the general color brown, of varying +shades, sometimes light and sometimes dark. The most striking +peculiarity, on a cursory view, is the abundance of globular cells, +which have been taken by the unlearned for fruit, but which are in +reality merely receptacles of air, by means of which the plant not +only floats upon the surface of the ocean, but also is enabled to +support vast numbers of marine animals, which find shelter among its +tangled fronds. Columbus, the first discoverer of the Sargasso Sea, +described the meadows as yellow like dry hay-seed, bearing leaves of +common rue, with numerous berries, which turn black in drying like +juniper berries. These berries have received the name of rasins de +tropique. + +There is one point in the history of the Sargassum which has excited +the attention of all observers, and more particularly of botanists. +It is the fact that the Sargassum is always found floating upon the +deep sea, and is yet destitute of any apparent means of propagation. +Agardh remarked that no fruit nor root could be detected; and +expressed his belief that it grew in the depths of the ocean and +was torn up by the waves. This belief was very general at one +time, and it was supposed that the perfect plant was unknown; but +that the Gulf Stream collected together the torn-off masses of its +vesicular summits. Rumphius suggested that the Sargassum fed upon the +fat exhalations and oily effluvia of dead fish, and other organic +substances entangled in it. Even modern publications state that +there is reason to think that it is first attached to the bottom +of the comparatively shallow parts of the sea; but the Gulf-weed +is never found so attached. It always floats; and is healthy +and abundant in that condition, never exhibiting any organs of +fructification, though constantly putting out new fronds. + +It does not appear that any other species of Sargassum is originally +destitute of roots, even those most closely allied to Sargassum +bacciferum, though some of them are not infrequently found both +in the fixed, and in considerable masses in the floating state, +retaining vitality, and probably propagating themselves in the same +manner. Professor Hervey conjectured that the Gulf-weed might be a +pelagic variety of Sargassum vulgare, in the same way as the variety +subcostatus of Fucus vesiculosus has never been found attached, +growing in salt marshes. In the Mediterranean vast quantities of +Fucus vesiculosus occur under a peculiar form, consisting entirely of +specimens derived from sea-born weed, carried in by the current which +sets in to that sea from the Atlantic. + + + + +GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS + + + A + + ABBREVIATE (_abbreviare_, to shorten), used to indicate that one + part is shorter than another. + + ABERRANT, deviating from the natural form. + + ABORTION, suppression of an organ, depending on non-development. + + ABRADED, rubbed off. + + ABRUPT, ending in an abrupt manner, as the truncated leaf of the + tulip-tree; _abruptly pinnate_, ending in two pinnæ--in other + words, paripinnate; _abruptly acuminate_, a leaf with a broad + extremity, from which a point arises. + + ACAULESCENT, without an evident stem. + + ACCESSORY, an addition to a usual number. + + ACCRESCENT, when parts continue to grow and increase after + flowering, as the calyx of _Physalis_ and the styles of _Anemone + pulsatilla_. + + ACCRETION, growing of one part to another. + + ACCUMBENT, applied to the embryo of _Cruciferæ_ when the + cotyledons have their edges applied to the folded radicle. + + ACEROSE, needle-like, narrow and slender, with a sharp point. + + ACHÆNE, or ACHÆNIUM, a monospermous seed-vessel which does not + open, but the pericarp of which is separable from the seed. + + ACHLAMYDEOUS, having no floral envelope. + + ACHROMATIC, applied to lenses which prevent chromatic aberration, + _i. e._, show objects without any prismatic colors. + + ACICULAR, like a needle in form. + + ACICULUS, a strong bristle. + + ACINACIFORM, shaped like a sabre or cimeter. + + ACOTYLEDONOUS, having no cotyledons. + + ACROCARPI, mosses having their fructification terminating the + axis. + + ACROGENOUS, having a stem increasing by its summit. + + ACULEATE, furnished with prickles. + + ACULEUS, a prickle, a process of the bark, not of the wood, as in + the rose. + + ACUMINATE, drawn out into a long point. + + ACUTE, terminating in a sharp point. + + ADHERENT, adhesion of parts that are normally separate, as when + the calyx is united to the ovary. + + ADNATE, when an organ is united to another throughout its whole + length; as the stipules to the petiole in roses, and the filament + and anther in _Ranunculus_. + + ADPRESSED, or APPRESSED, closely applied to a surface. + + ADULT, full grown. + + ADVENTITIOUS, organs produced in abnormal positions, as roots + arising from aerial stems. + + ÆRUGINOUS, having the color of verdigris. + + ÆSTIVATION, the arrangements of the parts of the flower in the + flower-bud. + + AGGLOMERATED, collected in a heap or head. + + AGGREGATE, gathered together. + + ALA, a wing, applied to the lateral petals of papilionaceous + flowers, and to membranous appendages of the fruit, as in the + elm, or of the seed, as in pines. + + ALBUMEN, the nutritious matter stored up with the embryo within + the seed, called also Perisperm and Endosperm. + + ALBURNUM, the outer young wood of a dicotyledonous stem. + + ALEXIPHARMIC, that which counteracts poisons. + + ALGOLOGY, the study of sea-weeds. + + ALTERNATE, arranged at different heights on the same axis, and + toward different sides. + + ALVEOLÆ, regular cavities on a surface, as in the receptacle of + the sunflower, and in that of _Nelumbium_. + + ALVEOLATE, like a honeycomb. + + AMENTUM, a catkin, or deciduous unisexual spike; plants having + catkins are _Amentiferous_. + + AMNIOS, the fluid or semi-fluid matter in the embryo-sac. + + AMORPHOUS, without definite form. + + AMPHISARCA, an indehiscent, multilocular fruit, with a hard + exterior, and pulpy round the seeds, as seen in the Baobab. + + AMPHITROPAL, an ovule, curved on itself, with the hilum in the + middle. + + AMPLEXICAUL, embracing the stem over a large part of its + circumference. + + AMPULLA, a hollow leaf, as in _Utricularia_. + + AMYLACEOUS, starch-like. + + ANASTOMOSING, inosculation of vessels. + + ANASTOMOSIS, union of vessels; union of the final ramifications + of the veins of a leaf. + + ANATROPAL, an inverted ovule, the hilum and micropyle being near + each other, and the chalaza at the opposite end. + + ANCEPS, two-edged. + + ANDRŒCIUM, the male organs of the flower. + + ANDROGYNOUS, male and female flowers on the same peduncle, as in + some species of _Carex_. + + ANDROPHORE, a stalk supporting the stamens, often formed by a + union of the filaments. + + ANFRACTUOSE, wavy or sinuous, as the anthers of _Cucurbitaceæ_. + + ANGIOSPERMOUS, having seeds contained in a seed-vessel. + + ANISOSTEMONOUS, stamens not equal in number to the floral + envelopes, nor a multiple of them. + + ANNOTINUS, a year old. + + ANNULUS, applied to the elastic rim surrounding the sporangia of + some ferns, also to a cellular rim on the stalk of the mushroom, + being the remains of the veil. + + ANTERIOR, same as inferior when applied to the parts of the + flower in their relation to the axis. + + ANTHELMINTIC, a vermifuge. + + ANTHER, the part of the stamen containing pollen. + + ANTHERIDIUM, the male organ in cryptogamic plants, frequently + containing moving filaments. + + ANTHERIFEROUS, bearing anthers. + + ANTHEROZOIDS, moving filaments in an antheridium. + + ANTHESIS, the opening of the flower. + + ANTHOCARPOUS, applied to fruits, formed by the ovaries of several + flowers. + + ANTHODIUM, the capitulum or head of flowers or the Composite + plants. + + ANTHOPHORE, a stalk supporting the inner floral envelopes, and + separating them from the calyx. + + ANTHOS, a flower; in composition, _Antho_; in Latin, _Flos_. + + ANTHOTAXIS, the arrangement of the flowers on the axis. + + APETALOUS, without petals; in other words, monochlamydeous. + + APHYLLOUS, without leaves. + + APICULATE, having an apiculus. + + APICULUS, or APICULUM, a terminal soft point, springing abruptly. + + APOCARPOUS, ovary and fruit composed of numerous distinct carpels. + + APOPHYSIS, a swelling at the base of the theca in some mosses. + + APOTHECIUM, the rounded, shield-like fructification of lichens. + + APTEROUS, without wings or membraneous margins. + + ARACHNOID, applied to fine hairs so entangled as to resemble a + cobweb. + + ARBOREOUS, tree-like. + + ARCHEGONIUM, the female organ in cryptogamic plants. + + ARCUATE, curved in an arched manner. + + AREOLÆ, little spaces on a surface. + + AREOLATE, divided into distinct angular spaces, or areolæ. + + ARILLATE, having an arillus. + + ARILLUS and ARILLODE, an extra covering on the seed; the former + proceeding from the placenta, the latter from the exostome, as in + mace. + + ARISTA, an awn, a long pointed process. + + ARMATURE, the hairs, prickles, etc., covering an organ. + + ARTICULATED, jointed, separated easily and cleanly at some point. + + ASCENDING, applied to a procumbent stem which rises gradually + from its base: to ovules attached a little above the base of + the ovary; and to hairs directed toward the upper part of their + support. + + ASCI, tubes containing the sporidia of the cryptogamia. + + ASCIDIUM, a pitcher-like leaf, as in _Nepenthes_. + + ASPERITY, roughness, as on the leaves of _Boraginaceæ_. + + ATROPAL, the same as orthotropous. + + ATTENUATE, thin and slender. + + AURICULATE, having appendages; applied to leaves having lobes + (ear-shaped) or leaflets at their base. + + AWN and AWNED. See _Arista_. + + AXIL, the upper angle, where the leaf joins the stem. + + AXILE, or AXIAL, belonging to the axis. + + AXIL-FLOWERING, flowering in the axilla. + + AXILLARY, arising from the axil of a leaf. + + AXIS is applied collectively to the stem and root--the ascending + and descending axis, respectively. + + + B + + BACCA, berry, a unilocular fruit, having a soft outer covering + and seeds immersed in pulp. + + BACCATE, resembling a berry. + + BALAUSTA, the fruit of the pomegranate. + + BARBATE, bearded, having tufts of hair. + + BARK (_cortex_), the outer cellular and fibrous covering of the + stem; separate from the wood in dicotyledons. + + BARREN, not fruitful; applied to male flowers, and to the + non-fructifying fronds of ferns. + + BASAL, or BASILAR, attached to the base of an organ. + + BASIDIUM, a cell bearing on its exterior one or more spores in + some fungi, which are hence called _Basidiosporous_. + + BAST, or BASS, the inner fibrous bark of dicotyledonous trees. + + BEAKED, like the sharp-pointed beak of a bird in form. + + BEDEGUAR, a hairy excrescence on the branches and leaves of + roses, caused by an attack of a cynips. + + BIDENTATE, having two tooth-like processes. + + BIFARIOUS, in two rows, one on each side of an axis. + + BIFID, two-cleft, cut down to near the middle into two parts. + + BIFORINE, a raphidian cell with an opening at each end. + + BILABIATE, having two lips. + + BILOBED, divided into two lobes. + + BILOCULAR, having two cells. + + BINATE, applied to a leaf composed of two leaflets at the + extremity of a petiole. + + BIPARTITE, cut down to near the base into two parts. + + BIPINNATE, a compound leaf, divided twice in a pinnate manner. + + BIPINNATIFID, a simple leaf, with lateral divisions extending to + near the middle, and which are also similarly divided. + + BIPINNATIPARTITE, differing from bipinnatifid in the divisions + extending to near the midrib. + + BIPLICATE, doubly folded in a transverse manner. + + BISERRATE, when the serratures are themselves serrate. + + BITERNATE, a compound leaf divided into three, and each division + again divided into three. + + BLADE, the lamina or broad part of a leaf, as distinguished from + the petiole or stalk. + + BLANCHING. See _Etiolation_. + + BLETTING, a peculiar change in an austere fruit, by which, after + being pulled, it becomes soft and edible, as in the medlar. + + BLISTERED, applied to raised spots in leaves. + + BOLE, the trunk of a tree. + + BOTHRENCHYMA, dotted or pitted vessels. + + BRACT, a leaf more or less changed in form, from which a flower + or flowers proceed; flowers having bracts are called _bracteated_. + + BRACTEOLE, a small bract at the base of a separate flower in a + multifloral inflorescence. + + BRANCHLETS, little branches. + + BRYOLOGY, the study of mosses; same as muscology. + + BULB, an underground stem covered with scales. + + BULBIL, or BULBLET, separate buds in the axil of leaves, as in + some lilies. + + BYSSOID, very slender, like a cobweb. + + + C + + CADUCOUS, falling off very early, as the calyx of a poppy. + + CÆSIOUS, gray. + + CÆSPITOSE, growing in tufts. + + CALCAR, a spur, projecting hollow or solid process from the base + of an organ, as in the flower of Larkspur or Snap-dragon; such + flowers are called _calcarate_, or spurred. + + CALCEOLATE, slipper-like, applied to the hollow petals of some + orchids; also to the corolla of _Calceolaria_. + + CALLOSITY, or CALLOUS, a leathery or hardened thickening on a + limited portion of an organ. + + CALYCIFLORÆ, a sub-class of polypetalous Exogens, having the + stamens attached to the calyx. + + CALYCINE, belonging to the calyx. + + CALYPTRATE, in form, resembling an extinguisher. + + CALYX, the outer envelope of a flower. + + CAMBIUM, the young active cells between the bark and the young + wood. + + CAMPANULATE, shaped like a bell, as the flower of harebell. + + CAMPYLOTROPAL, a curved ovule, with the hilum, micropyle, and + chalaza near each other. + + CANALICULATE, channeled, having a longitudinal groove or furrow. + + CANCELLATE, latticed, composed of veins alone. + + CANESCENT, hoary. + + CAPILLARY, filiform, thread-like, or hair-like. + + CAPITATE, pin-like, having a rounded summit, as some hairs. + + CAPITULUM, head of flowers in _Compositæ_. + + CAPREOLATE, having tendrils. + + CAPSULE, a dry seed-vessel, opening by valves, teeth, pores, or a + lid. + + CARINA, keel, the two partially united lower petals of + papilionaceous flowers. + + CARINATE, keel-shaped. + + CARPEL, the leaf which contains the ovules. Several carpels may + enter into the composition of one pistil. + + CARPOLOGY, the study of fruits. + + CARPOPHORE, a stalk bearing the pistil, and raising it above the + whorl of the stamens, as in _Lychnis_ and _Capparis_. + + CARUNCLE, a fleshy or thickened appendage of the raphe of the + seed. + + CARYOPSIS, the monospermal seed-vessel of a grass, the pericarp + being adherent with the seed. + + CATKIN, same as Amentum. + + CAUDATE, having a tail or feathery appendage. + + CAUDEX, the stem of palms and of tree ferns. + + CAUDICLE, the process supporting a pollen mass in orchids. + + CAULESCENT, having an evident stem. + + CAULICLE, the rudimentary axis of the embryo. + + CAULINE, produced on the stem. + + CAUSTICITY, having a burning quality. + + CELLULAR, composed of cells. + + CELLULOSE, the chemical substance of which the cell wall is + composed. + + CENTIMETRE, a French measure, equal to 0.3937079 British inch. + + CENTRIFUGAL, applied to that kind of inflorescence in which the + central flower opens first. + + CENTRIPETAL, applied to that kind of inflorescence in which the + flowers at the circumference or base open first. + + CERAMIDIUM, an ovate conceptacle, having a terminal opening, and + with a tuft of spores arising from the base; seen in Algæ. + + CEREAL, a general term applied to wheat, oats, barley, and rye. + + CHALAZA, the place where the nourishing vessels enter the nucleus + of the ovule. + + CHLOROPHYLL, the green coloring matter of leaves. + + CHORISIS, separation of a lamina from one part of an organ, so + as to form a scale or a doubling of the organ; it may be either + transverse or collateral. + + CHROMULE, the coloring matter of the cells of flowers; also of + the lower _Algæ_. + + CILIA (_cilium_), short, stiff hairs fringing the margin of a + leaf; also the delicate vibratile hairs of zoospores. + + CILIATO-DENTATE, toothed and fringed with hairs. + + CIRCINATE, rolled up like a crosier, as the young fronds of ferns. + + CIRCUMSCISSILE, cut round in a circular manner, such as + seed-vessels opening by a lid. + + CIRCUMSCRIPTION, the periphery or margin of a leaf. + + CIRRHUS, a modified leaf in the form of a tendril. + + CLATHRATE, latticed, like a grating. + + CLAVATE, club-shaped, becoming gradually thicker toward the top. + + CLAW, the narrow base of some petals, corresponding with the + petiole or leaves. + + CLEFT, divided to about the middle. + + CLOVES, applied to young bulbs, as in the onion. + + CLYPEATE, having the shape of a buckler. + + COCCIDIUM, a rounded conceptacle in _Algæ_ without pores, and + containing a tuft of spores. + + COCHLEAR, a kind of æstivation, in which a helmet-shaped part + covers all the others in the bud. + + COCHLEARIFORM, shaped like a spoon. + + COCHLEATE, shaped like a snail shell. + + COLEORHIZA, a sheath, surrounding the radicles of a + monocotyledonous embryo. + + COLLATERAL, placed side by side, as in the case of some ovules. + + COLLUM, neck, the part where the plumule and radicle of the + embryo unite. + + COLUMELLA, central column in the sporangia of mosses. + + COLUMN, a part of a flower of an orchid supporting the anthers + and stigma, and formed by the union of the styles and filaments. + + COMA, a tuft of hair on a seed. + + COMMISSURE, union of the faces of the two achænes in the fruit of + _Umbelliferæ_. + + COMOSE, furnished with hairs, as the seeds of the willow. + + COMPOUND, composed of several parts, as a leaf formed by several + leaflets. + + COMPRESSED, flattened laterally or lengthwise. + + CONCENTRIC, curves with common centre. + + CONCEPTACLE, a hollow sac containing a tuft or cluster of spores. + + CONCRETE, hardened into a mass. + + CONDUCTING TISSUE, applied to the loose cellular tissue in the + interior of the style. + + CONDUPLICATE, followed upon itself, applied to leaves and + cotyledons. + + CONE, a dry multiple fruit, formed by bracts covering naked seeds. + + CONFERRUMINATE, indistinguishably united together. + + CONFERVOID, formed of a single row of cells, or having + articulations like a _Conferva_. + + CONFLUENT, when parts unite together in the progress of growth. + + CONJUGATION, union of two cells, so as to develop a spore. + + CONNATE, when parts are united, even in the early state of + development; applied to two leaves united by their bases. + + CONNECTIVE, the part which connects the anther-lobes. + + CONNIVENT, when two organs, as petals, arch over so as to meet + above. + + CONSTRICTED, contracted in some particular place. + + CONTORTED, when the parts in a bud are imbricated and regularly + twisted in one direction. + + CONVOLUTE, when a leaf in the bud is rolled upon itself. + + CORDATE, of leaves heart-shaped at the base. + + CORDIFORM, having the shape of a heart. + + CORIACEOUS, having a leathery consistence. + + CORM, thickened underground stem, as in _Arum_ and _Colchicum_. + + CORNUTE, horned. + + COROLLA, the inner envelope of the flower. + + COROLLIFLORÆ, gamopetalous exogens. + + CORONA, a coralline appendage, as the crown of the daffodil. + + CORPUSCLE, a small body or particle. + + CORRUGATED, wrinkled or shriveled. + + CORTEX, the bark. + + CORTICAL, belonging to the bark. + + CORYMB, a raceme, in which the lower stalks are the longest, and + all the flowers come very nearly to a level above. + + COSTATE, provided with ribs; primary. + + COTYLEDON, the temporary leaf of the embryo. + + CREMOCARP, the fruit of _Umbelliferæ_, composed of two separable + achænes or mericarps. + + CRENATE, having superficial, rounded, marginal notches. + + CRENATURES, divisions of the margin of a crenate leaf. + + CREST, an appendage to fruits or seeds. + + CRIBRIFORM, riddled with holes. + + CRISP, having an undulated margin. + + CRUCIFORM, arranged like the parts of a cross, as the flowers of + _Cruciferæ_. + + CRUSTACEOUS, hard, thin, and brittle. + + CRYPTOGAMOUS, with the organs of reproduction obscure. + + CUCULLATE, formed like a hood or cowl. + + CULM, stem or stalk of grasses. + + CUNEIFORM, or CUNEATE, shaped like a wedge. + + CUPULA, the cup of the acorn, formed by aggregate bracts. + + CUSPIDATE, prolonged into an attenuated point. + + CUTICLE, the thin membrane that covers the epidermis. + + CYCLOSIS, movement of the latex in laticiferous vessels, and of + the fluid cell contents within the cell. + + CYMBIFORM, shaped like a boat. + + CYME, a kind of definite inflorescence, in which the flowers are + in racemes, corymbs, or umbels, the successive central flowers + expanding first. + + CYPSELA, monospermal fruit of _Compositæ_. + + CYTOBLAST, the nucleus of a cell. + + CYTOGENESIS, cell development. + + + D + + DECIDUOUS, falling off after performing its functions for a + limited time, as the calyx of _Ranunculus_. + + DECIDUOUS TREES, those which lose their leaves annually. + + DECIMETRE, the tenth part of a metre, or ten centimetres. + + DECLINATE, directed downward from its base. + + DECOMPOUND, a leaf cut into numerous compound divisions. + + DECORTICATED, deprived of bark. + + DECUMBENT, lying flat along the ground, and rising from it at the + apex. + + DECURRENT, leaves which are attached along the side of a stem + below their point of insertion; such stems are often called + winged. + + DECUSSATE, opposite leaves crossing each other in pairs at right + angles. + + DEDUPLICATION, same as Chorisis. + + DEFINITE, applied to inflorescence when it ends in a single + flower, and the expansion of the flower is centrifugal; also + when the number of the parts of an organ is limited, as when the + stamens are under twenty. + + DEFLEXED, bent downward in a continuous curve. + + DEFOLIATION, the fall of the leaves. + + DEGENERATION, when an organ is changed from its usual appearance, + and becomes less highly developed as when scales take the place + of leaves. + + DEHISCENCE, mode of opening of an organ, as of the seed-vessels + and anthers. + + DELTOID, like the Greek Δ in form. + + DEMULCENT, an emollient. + + DENTATE, toothed, having short triangular divisions of the margin. + + DENTICULATE, finely toothed, having small tooth-like projections + along the margin. + + DENTIFORM, tooth-shaped. + + DEPENDENT, hanging down. + + DEPRESSED, flattening of a solid organ from above downward. + + DETERGENT, having a cleansing power. + + DIADELPHOUS, stamens in two bundles, united by their filaments. + + DIANDROUS, having two stamens. + + DIAPHANOUS, transparent. + + DICHLAMYDEOUS, having calyx and corolla. + + DICHOTOMOUS, stem dividing by twos. + + DICLINOUS, unisexual flower either monœcious or diœcious. + + DICOTYLEDONOUS, embryo having two cotyledons. + + DICTYOGENOUS, applied to monocotyledons having netted veins. + + DIDYNAMOUS, two long and two short stamens. + + DIFFUSE, scattered. + + DIGITATE, compound leaf, composed of several leaflets attached to + one point. + + DIGYNOUS, having two styles. + + DIMEROUS, when the parts of a flower are in twos. + + DIMIDIATE, when one-half of an organ is smaller than the other + half. + + DIŒCIOUS, staminiferous and pistilliferous flowers on separate + plants. + + DIPLOSTEMONOUS, stamens double the number of the petals or sepals. + + DIPTEROUS, having two wings. + + DISCOID, in the form of a disk or flattened sphere; _discoid + pith_, divided into cavities by disks. + + DISK, a part intervening between the stamens and the pistils in + the form of scales, a ring, etc. + + DISKS, the peculiar rounded and dotted markings on the fibres of + coniferous wood. + + DISSECTED, cut into a number of narrow divisions. + + DISSEPIMENT, a division in the ovary; true when formed by the + edges of the carpels, false when formed otherwise. + + DISTICHOUS, in two rows on opposite sides of a stem. + + DIVARICATING, branches coming off from the stem at a very wide or + obtuse angle. + + DODECANDROUS, having twelve stamens. + + DOLABRIFORM, shaped like an axe. + + DORSAL, applied to the suture of the carpel which is furthest + from the axis. + + DOUBLE FLOWER, when the organs of reproduction are converted into + petals. + + DRUPE, a fleshy fruit like the cherry, having a stony endocarp. + + DRUPELS, small drupes aggregated to form a fruit, as in the + raspberry. + + DURAMEN, heart-wood of dicotyledonous trees. + + + E + + ELATERS, spiral fibres in the spore-cases of _Hepaticæ_. + + ELLIPTICAL, having the form of an ellipse. + + EMARGINATE, with a notch at the end. + + EMBRACING. This is said to be the case when a leaf clasps the + stem. + + EMBRYO, the young plant contained in the seed. + + EMBRYO-SAC, the cell in which the embryo is formed. + + ENDOCARP, the inner layer of the pericarp, next the seed. + + ENDOCHROME, the coloring matter within the cells of the lower + plants. + + ENDOGEN, a monocotyledon. + + ENDOPHLŒUM, the fibrous inner bark or liber. + + ENDOPLEURA, the inner covering of the seed. + + ENDORHIZAL, numerous rootlets arising from _within_ a common + radicle, and passing through sheaths, as in endogenous + germination. + + ENDOSMOSE, movement of fluids inward through a membrane. + + ENDOSPERM, albumen formed within the embryo-sac. + + ENDOSTOME, the inner foramen of the ovule. + + ENDOTHECIUM, the inner coat of the anther. + + ENSIFORM, in the form of a sword, as the leaves of _Iris_. + + ENTIRE (_integer_), without marginal divisions. + + ENVELOPES, FLORAL, the calyx and corolla. + + EPICALYX, outer calyx formed either of sepals or bracts, as in + mallow and _Potentilla_. + + EPICARP, the outer covering of the fruit. + + EPICHILIUM, the terminal portion of the lip (_labellum_) in + orchids. + + EPIDERMIS, the cellular layer covering the external surface of + plants. + + EPIGYNOUS, above the ovary by adhesion to it. + + EPIPETALOUS, inserted on the petals. + + EPIPHYLLOUS, growing upon a leaf. + + EPIPHYTES, attached to another plant, and growing suspended in + the air. + + EPISPERM, the external covering of the seed. + + EQUITANT, applied to leaves folded longitudinally, and + overlapping each other without any involution. + + ERECT, applied to an ovule which rises from the base of the ovary. + + ERODED, gnawed or bitten. + + EROSE, irregularly toothed, as if gnawed. + + ERUMPENT, as if bursting through the epidermis. + + ESCHAROTIC, having the power to scar or burn the skin. + + ETÆRIO, the aggregate drupes forming the fruit of _Rubus_. + + ETIOLATION, blanching; losing color through growth in the dark. + + EXALBUMINOUS, without a separate store of albumen or perisperm. + + EXANNULATE, without a ring; applied to some ferns. + + EXCENTRIC, removed from the centre or axis; applied to a lateral + embryo. + + EXCIPULUS, a receptacle containing fructification in lichens. + + EXCORIATED, stripped of skin or bark. + + EXCURRENT, running out beyond the edge or point. + + EXOGEN, dicotyledon. + + EXORHIZAL, radicle proceeding directly from the axis, and + afterward branching, as in exogens. + + EXOSMOSE, the passing outward of a fluid through a membrane. + + EXOSTOME, the outer opening of the foramen of the ovule. + + EXOTHECIUM, the outer coat of the anther. + + EXSERTED, extended beyond an organ, as stamens beyond the corolla. + + EXSICCATED, dried up. + + EXSTIPULATE, without stipules. + + EXTINE, the outer covering of the pollen grain. + + EXTRA-AXILLARY, removed from the axil of the leaf, as in the case + of some buds. + + EXTRORSE, applied to anthers which dehisce on the side furthest + removed from the pistil. + + + F + + FÆCULA, starchy matter. + + FALCATE, or FALCIFORM, bent like a sickle. + + FARINACEOUS, mealy, containing much starch. + + FASCIATION, union of branches of stems so as to present a + flattened ribbon-like form. + + FASCICLE, a shortened umbellate cyme, as in some species of + _Dianthus_. + + FASCICULATE, arranged in bundles. + + FASTIDIATE, having a pyramidal form, from the branches being + parallel and erect, as in Lombardy poplar. + + FAUCES, the gaping part of a monopetalous corolla. + + FEATHER-VEINED, a leaf having the veins passing from the midrib + at a more or less acute angle, and extending to the margin. + + FECUNDATION, fertilization. + + FENESTRATE, applied to a leaf with perforations. + + FERRUGINOUS, rusty. + + FERTILE, applied to pistillate flowers, and to the fruit-bearing + fronds of ferns. + + FIBROUS, composed of numerous fibres, as some roots. + + FIBRO-VASCULAR TISSUE, containing vessels and fibres. + + FILAMENT, stalk supporting the anther. + + FILAMENTOUS, a string of cells placed end to end. + + FILIFORM, like a thread. + + FIMBRIATED, fringed at the margin. + + FISSIPAROUS, dividing spontaneously into two parts by means of a + septum. + + FISSURE, a straight slit in an organ for the discharge of its + contents. + + FISTULOUS, hollow, like stems of grasses. + + FLABELLIFORM, fan-shaped, as the leaves of some palms. + + FLACCID, feeble, weak. + + FLAGELLUM, a runner, a weak creeping stem, bearing rooting buds + at different points, as in the strawberry. + + FLEXUOSE, having alternate curvations in opposite directions. + + FLOCCOSE, covered with wool-like tufts. + + FLORETS, little florets forming a compound flower. + + FOLIACEOUS, having the form of leaves. + + FOLLICLE, a fruit formed by a single carpel dehiscing by one + suture, which is usually the ventral. + + FOVEOLATE, having pits or depressions, called foveæ or foveolæ. + + FOVILLA, minute granular matter in the pollen grain. + + FROND, the leaf-like organ of ferns, bearing the fructification. + + FRONDOSE, applied to cryptogams with foliaceous or leaf-like + expansions. + + FRUCTIFICATION, the seed or fruit of plants. + + FRUSTULES, the parts or fragments into which diatomaceæ separate. + + FRUTICOSE, shrubby. + + FUGACIOUS, evanescent, falling off early, as the petals of + _Cistus_. + + FULVOUS, tawny, yellow. + + FUNGOUS, having the substance of fungi or mushrooms. + + FUNICULUS, the cord connecting the hilum of the ovule to the + placenta. + + FURCATE, divided into two branches, like a two-pronged fork. + + FURFURACEOUS, scaly or scurfy. + + FUSCOUS, blackish brown. + + FUSIFORM, shaped like a spindle. + + + G + + GALBULUS, the polygynœcial fruit of juniper. + + GAMOPETALOUS, same as monopetalous, petals united. + + GAMOPHYLLOUS and GAMOSEPALOUS, same as monophyllous and + monosepalous, sepals united. + + GEMINATE, twin organs combined in pairs; same as binate. + + GEMMATION, the development of leaf-buds. + + GEMMULE, same as plumule, the first bud of the embryo. + + GENICULATE, bent like a knee. + + GERMEN, or GERM, a name for the ovary. + + GERMINAL VESICLE, a germ contained in the embryo-sac, from which + the embryo is developed. + + GERMINATION, the sprouting of the young plant. + + GIBBOSITY, a swelling at the base of an organ, such as the calyx + or corolla. + + GIBBOUS, swollen at the base, or having a distinct swelling at + some part of the surface. + + GLABROUS, smooth, without hairs. + + GLAND, an organ of secretion consisting of cells, and generally + occurring on the epidermis of plants. + + GLANDULAR HAIRS, hairs tipped with a gland, as in _Drosera_ and + Chinese primrose. + + GLANS, nut, applied to the acorn and hazel-nut, which are + inclosed in an involucre formed of consolidated bracts. + + GLAUCOUS, covered with a pale green bloom. + + GLOBOSE, round-shaped. + + GLOBULE, male organ of Chara. + + GLOCHIDIATE, barbed; applied to hairs with two reflexed points at + their summits. + + GLOMERULE, a rounded cymose inflorescence, as in _Urtica_. + + GLUMACEOUS, chaffy. + + GLUME, a bract covering the organs of reproduction in the + spikelets of grasses. + + GLUTEN, a highly nitrogenous substance found in seeds. + + GONIDIA, green cells in the thallus of lichens. + + GRAIN, caryopsis, the fruit of grasses. + + GRUMOUS, collected into granular masses. + + GYMNOGEN, a plant with naked seeds, _i. e._, seed not in a true + ovary. + + GYMNOSPERMOUS, plants with naked seeds, _i. e._, seeds not in a + true ovary; such as conifers. + + GYNANDROUS, stamen and pistil united in a common column, as in + the _Orchidaceæ_. + + GYNOBASE, a central axis, to the base of which the carpels are + attached. + + GYNŒCIUM, the female organs of the flower. + + GYNOPHORE, a stalk supporting the ovary. + + GYRATE, same as circinate. + + + H + + HABIT, general external appearance. + + HASTATE, halbert-shaped, applied to a leaf with two portions at + the base projecting more or less completely at right angles to + the blade. + + HAULM, dead stems of herbs, as of the potato. + + HAUSTORIUM, the sucker at the extremity of the parasitic root of + dodder. + + HEART-WOOD, same as Duramen. + + HELICOIDAL, having a coiled appearance like the shell of a snail; + applied to inflorescence. + + HERB, a plant with an annual stem, opposed to a woody plant. + + HERBACEOUS, green succulent plants which die down to the ground + in winter; annual shoots, with green-colored cellular parts. + + HERMAPHRODITE, stamens and pistils in the same flower. + + HESPERIDIUM, the fruit of the orange and other _Aurantiaceæ_. + + HETEROCYSTS, peculiar large cells in _Nostochineæ_. + + HETEROGAMOUS, composite plants having hermaphrodite and unisexual + flowers on the same head. + + HETEROPHYLLOUS, presenting two different forms of leaves. + + HILUM, the base of the seed to which the placenta is attached + either directly or by means of a cord. The term is also applied + to the mark at one end of some grains of starch. + + HIRSUTE, covered with long stiff hairs. + + HISPID, covered with long, very stiff hairs. + + HISTOLOGY, the study of microscopic tissues. + + HOMOGENEOUS, having a uniform structure or substance. + + HYALINE, transparent or colorless. + + HYBRID, a plant resulting from the fecundation of one species by + another. + + HYMENIUM, the part which bears the spores in Agarics. + + HYPANTHODIUM, the receptacle of _Dorstenia_, bearing many flowers. + + HYPOCHILUM, the lower part of the labellum of orchids. + + HYPOCRATERIFORM, shaped like a salver, as the corolla of + _Primula_. + + HYPOGEOUS, under the surface of the soil; applied to cotyledons. + + HYPOGYNOUS, inserted below the ovary or pistil. + + + I + + IMBRICATE, parts overlying each other like tiles on a house. + _Imbricated æstivation_, the parts of the flower-bud alternately + overlapping each other, and arranged in a spiral manner. + + IMPARI-PINNATE, unequally pinnate; pinnate leaf ending in an odd + leaflet. + + INARCHING, a mode of grafting by bending two growing plants + toward each other, and causing a branch of the one to unite to + the other. + + INARTICULATE, without joints or interruption to continuity. + + INCISED, cut down deeply. + + INCLUDED, applied to the stamens when inclosed within the + corolla, and not pushed out beyond its tube. + + INCUMBENT, cotyledons with the radicle on their back. + + INCURVED, bending inward. + + INDEFINITE, applied to inflorescence with centripetal expansion; + also to stamens above twenty, and to ovules and seeds when very + numerous. + + INDEHISCENT, not opening, having no regular line of suture. + + INDIGENOUS, an aboriginal native in a country. + + INDUPLICATE, edges of the sepals or petals turned slightly inward + in æstivation. + + INDUSIUM, epidermal covering of the fructification in some ferns. + + INFERIOR, applied to the ovary where it seems to be situated + below the calyx, and to the part of the flower furthest from the + axis. + + INFLEXED, bending inward. + + INFLORESCENCE, the mode in which the flowers are arranged on the + axis. + + INFUNDIBULIFORM, in shape like a funnel, as seen in some + gamopetalous corollas. + + INNATE, applied to anthers when attached to the top of the + filament. + + INSPISSATED, thickened or dried-up juice or sap. + + INTERNODE, the portion of the stem between two nodes or leaf-buds. + + INTERPETIOLAR, between the petioles. + + INTERRUPTEDLY-PINNATE, a pinnate leaf in which pairs of small + pinnæ occur between the larger pairs. + + INTINE, the inner covering of the pollen grains. + + INTRAMARGINAL, within the margin. + + INTRORSE, applied to anthers which open on the side next the + pistil. + + INVERSE, inverted. + + INVOLUCEL, bracts surrounding the partial umbel of _Umbelliferæ_. + + INVOLUCRE, bracts surrounding the general umbel in _Umbelliferæ_, + the heads of flowers in _Compositæ_, and in general any + verticillate bracts surrounding numerous flowers. + + INVOLUTE, edges of leaves rolled inward spirally on each side in + æstivation. + + IRREGULAR, a flower in which the parts of any of the verticils + differ in size. + + ISOMEROUS, when the whorls of a flower are composed each of an + equal number of parts. + + ISOSTEMONOUS, when stamens and floral envelopes have the same + number of parts or multiples. + + ISOTHERMAL, lines passing through places which have the same mean + annual temperature. + + + J + + JUGATE, applied to the pairs of leaflets in compound leaves; + _Unijugate_, having one pair; _Bijugate_, two pairs, and so on. + + + K + + KEEL, same as Carina. + + KNOTTED, when a cylindrical stem is swollen at intervals into a + knob. + + + L + + LABELLUM, lip. one of the divisions of the inner whorl of the + flower in orchids. This part is in reality superior, but becomes + inferior by the twisting of the ovary. + + LABIATE, lipped; applied to irregular gamopetalous flowers, with + an upper and under portion separated more or less by a hiatus or + gap. + + LACINIATE, irregularly cut into narrow segments. + + LACTESCENT, yielding milky juice. + + LACUNA, a large space in the midst of a group of cells. + + LAMELLÆ, gills of an Agaric; also applied to flat divisions of + the stigma. + + LAMINA, the blade of the leaf; the broad part of the petal or + sepal. + + LANCEOLATE, tapering to each end, but broadest _below_ the middle. + + LATERAL, arising from the side of the axis, not terminal. + + LATEX, granular fluid contained in laticiferous vessels. + + LATICIFEROUS, vessels containing latex which is anastomose. + + LAX, not compact. + + LEAFLETS, the small portions of compound leaves. + + LEGUME, a pod composed of one carpel, opening usually by a + ventral and dorsal suture, as in the pea. + + LEGUMINOUS, plants bearing pods. + + LENTICEL, a small cellular process on the bark of the willow and + other plants. + + LENTICULAR, in the form of a doubly-convex lens. + + LEPIDOTE, covered with scales or scurf. + + LIANES, twining woody plants. + + LIBER, the fibrous inner bark of endophlœum. + + LID, the calyx which falls from the flower in one piece. + + LIGNINE, woody matter which thickens the cell walls. + + LIGULATE, strap-shaped. + + LIGULE, a process arising from the petiole of grasses, where it + joins the blade. + + LIGULIFLORÆ, composite plants having ligulate florets. + + LIMB, the blade of the leaf; the broad part of a petal or sepal. + When sepals or petals are united, the combined broad parts are + denominated collectively the limb. + + LINE, the twelfth part of an inch. + + LINEAR, very narrow when the length greatly exceeds the breadth. + + LINGUIFORM, strap-shaped. + + LIPPED, having a distinct lip or labellum. + + LOBE, large division of a leaf or any other organ, applied often + to the divisions of the anther. + + LOCULAMENTS, divisions of the cells of a seed-vessel. + + LOCULICIDAL, fruit dehiscing through the back of the carpels. + + LOCULUS, a cavity in an ovary. The terms are also applied to the + anther. + + LOCUSTA, a spikelet of grasses. + + LODICULE, a scale at the base of the ovary of grapes. + + LOMENTUM, an indehiscent legume or pod with transverse + partitions, each division containing one seed. + + LURID, a color combining yellow, purple, and gray. + + LYRATE, a pinnatifid leaf with a large terminal lobe, and smaller + ones as we approach the petiole. + + + M + + MACROPODOUS, applied to the thickened radicle of a + monocotyledonous embryo. + + MARCESCENT, withering, but not falling off until the part bearing + it is perfected. + + MEDULLA, the pith. + + MEDULLARY RAYS, cellular prolongation uniting the pith and the + bark. + + MEDULLARY SHEATH, sheath containing spiral vessels, surrounding + the pith in exogens. + + MEMBRANEOUS, having the consistence, aspect, and structure of a + membrane. + + MERICARP, carpel forming one-half of the fruit of _Umbelliferæ_. + + MERITHAL, a term used in place of internode; applied by + Gaudichaud to the different parts of the leaf. + + MESOCARP, middle covering of the fruit. + + MESOCHILUM, middle portion of the labellum of orchids. + + MESOPHLŒUM, middle layer of bark. + + METRE, equal to 39.3707 inches British. + + MICROMETER, instrument for measuring microscopic objects. + + MICROPYLE, the opening or foramen of the seed. + + MILLIMETRE, equal to 0.0393707 English inch. + + MONADELPHOUS, stamens united into one bundle by union of their + filaments. + + MONILIFORM, beaded; cells united with interruptions, so as to + resemble a string of beads. + + MONOCARPIC, producing flowers and fruit once during life, and + then dying. + + MONOCHLAMYDEOUS, flowers having a single envelope. + + MONOCLINOUS, stamens and pistils in the same flower. + + MONOCOTYLEDONOUS, having one cotyledon in the embryo. + + MONŒCIOUS, stamens and pistils in different flowers on the same + plant. + + MONOPETALOUS, same as gamopetalous. + + MONOPHYLLOUS, same as gamophyllous. + + MONOSEPALOUS, having one sepal or division in the calyx. Same as + gamosepalous. + + MONSTROSITY, an abnormal development; applied more especially to + double flowers. + + MORPHOLOGY, the study of the forms which the different organs + assume, and the laws that regulate their metamorphoses. + + MUCILAGE, a thick viscid fluid. + + MUCRO, a stiff point abruptly terminating an organ. + + MUCRONATE, having a mucro. + + MUCRONULATE, having a little hard point. + + MURICATE, covered with firm sharp points or excrescences. + + MURIFORM, like bricks in a wall; applied to cells. + + MYCELIUM, the cellular spawn of fungi. + + + N + + NAKED, applied to seeds not contained in a true ovary; also to + flowers without any floral envelopes. + + NAPIFORM, shaped like a turnip. + + NATURALIZED, originally introduced by artificial means, but + become apparently wild. + + NAVICULAR, hollowed like a boat. + + NECTARY, any abnormal part of a flower. It ought to be restricted + to organs secreting a honey-like matter, as in the Crown Imperial. + + NERVATION, same as Nevation. + + NERVES, the veins of leaves. + + NETTED, applied to reticulated nevation. + + NODDING, drooping. + + NODE, the part of a stem from which the leaf-bud proceeds. + + NODOSE, having swollen nodes or articulations. + + NUCLEUS, the body which gives origin to new cells; also applied + to the central cellular portion of the ovule and seed. + + NUCULE, female part of fructification in the _Characeæ_. + + NUT, any dry one-celled indehiscent fruit with hard pericarp. + + + O + + OBCORDATE, inversely heart-shaped, with the divisions of the + heart at the opposite end from the stalk. + + OBLONG, about three-fourths as long as broad. + + OBOVATE, reversely ovate, the broad part of the egg being + uppermost. + + OBSOLETE, imperfectly developed or abortive; applied to the calyx + when it is in the form of a rim. + + OBTUSE, not pointed, with a rounded or blunt termination. + + OCHRACEOUS, clay or ochre color. + + OCHREA, the sheathing stipule of _Polygonaceæ_. + + OFFICINAL, sold in the shops. + + OLERACEOUS, used as an esculent pot-herb. + + OLIVACEOUS, having the color of olives. + + OOPHORIDIUM, organ, in Lycopodiaceæ containing large spores. + + OPAQUE, dull, not shining. + + OPERCULAR, covered with a lid. + + OPERCULUM, lid; applied to the separable part of the theca of + mosses; also applied to the lid of certain seed-vessels. + + OPPOSITE, applied to leaves placed on opposite sides of the same + stem at the same level. + + ORBICULAR, rounded leaf with petiole attached to the centre of it. + + ORGANOGRAPHY, the description of the organs of plants. + + ORTHOTROPAL, ovule with foramen opposite to the hilum; embryo + with radicle next the hilum. + + OSMOSE, the force with which fluids pass through membranes in + experiments on exosmose and endosmose. + + OVAL, elliptical, blunt at each end. + + OVARY, the part of the pistil which contains the ovules. + + OVATE, shaped like an egg; applied to the broader end of the egg + next the petiole or axis. + + OVOID, egg-shaped. + + OVULE, the young seed contained in the ovary. + + + P + + PALE, the part of the flower of grasses within the glume; also + applied to the small scaly laminæ which occur in the receptacle + of some _Compositæ_. + + PALÆPHYTOLOGY, the study of fossil plants. + + PALEACEOUS, chaffy, covered with small, erect, membraneous scales. + + PALMATE and PALMATIFID, applied to a leaf with radiating + venation, divided into lobes to about the middle. + + PALMATIPARTITE, applied to a leaf with radiating venation, cut + nearly to the base in a palmate manner. + + PANDURIFORM, shaped like a fiddle. + + PANICLE, inflorescence of grasses, consisting of spikelets on + long peduncles coming off in a racemose manner. + + PANICULATE, forming a panicle. + + PAPILIONACEOUS, corolla composed of vexillum, two alæ, and + carina, as in the pea. + + PAPILLOSE, covered with small nipple-like prominences. + + PAPPUS, the hairs at the summit of the ovary in _Compositæ_. They + consist of the altered calycine limb. _Pappose_, provided with + pappus. + + PARAPHYSES, filaments, sometimes articulated, occurring in the + fructification of mosses and other cryptogams. + + PARASITE, attached to another plant, and deriving nourishment + from it. + + PARENCHYMA, cellular tissue. + + PARIETAL, applied to placentas on the wall of the ovary. + + PARIPINNATE, a compound of pinnate leaf ending in two leaflets. + + PARTHENOGENESIS, production of perfect seed with embryo, without + the application of pollen. + + PATENT, spreading widely. + + PATULUS, spreading less than when patent. + + PECTINATE, divided laterally into narrow segments like the teeth + of a comb. + + PEDATE and PEDATIFID, a palmate leaf of three lobes, the lateral + lobes bearing other equally large lobes on the edges next the + middle lobe. + + PEDICEL, the stalk supporting a single flower. + + PEDUNCLE, the general flower-stalk or floral axis; sometimes it + bears one flower, at other times it bears several sessile or + pedicellate flowers. + + PELAGIC, growing in the ocean. + + PELLUCID, transparent. + + PELORIA, a name given to a teratological phenomenon, which + consists in a flower that is usually irregular becoming regular; + for instance, when _Linaria_, in place of one spur, produces five. + + PELTATE, shield-like, fixed to the stalk by a point within the + margin; peltate hairs, attached to their middle. + + PENDULOUS, applied to ovules which are hung from the upper part + of the ovary. + + PENICILLATE, resembling a camel’s-hair pencil. + + PENNI-NERVED, and PENNI-VEINED, the veins disposed like a + feather, running from the middle of the leaf to the margin. + + PENTAMEROUS, composed of different whorls in five, or multiples + of that number. + + PEPO, the fruit of the melon, cucumber, and other _Cucurbitaceæ_. + + PERENNIAL, living, or rather flowering, for several years. + + PERFOLIATE, a leaf with the lobes at the base, united on the side + of the stem opposite the blade, so that the stalk appears to pass + through the leaf. + + PERIANTH, a general name for the floral envelopes; applied in + cases where there is only a calyx, or where the calyx and corolla + are alike. + + PERICARP, the covering of the fruit. + + PERICHÆTIAL, applied to the leaves surrounding the fruit-stalk or + seta of mosses. + + PERICLADIUM, the large sheathing petiole of _Umbelliferæ_. + + PERIDERM, a name applied to the outer layer of the barks. + + PERIDIUM, the envelope of the fructification in gasteromycetous + fungi. + + PERIGONE, same as Perianth. Some restrict the term to cases in + which the flower is female, or pistilliferous. It has also been + applied to the involucre of _Jungermannieæ_. + + PERIGYNOUS, applied to the corolla and stamens when attached to + the calyx. + + PERIGYNUM, applied to the pistil in the genus _Carex_. + + PERIPHERICAL, applied to an embryo curved so as to surround the + albumen, following the inner part of the covering of the seed. + + PERISPERM, the albumen or nourishing matter stored up with the + embryo in the seed. + + PERISTOME, the opening of the sporangium of mosses after the + removal of the calyptra and operculum. + + PERITHECIUM, a conceptacle in cryptogams, containing spores, and + having an opening at one end. + + PERSISTENT, not falling off, remaining attached to the axis until + the part which bears it is matured. + + PERSONATE, a gamopetalous irregular corolla, having the lower lip + pushed upward, so as to close the hiatus between the two lips. + + PERTUSE, having slits or holes. + + PERULÆ, the scales of the leaf-bud. + + PETALOID, like a petal. + + PETALS, the leaves forming the coralline whorl. + + PETIOLATE, having a stalk or petiole. + + PETIOLE, a leaf-stalk; _Petiolule_, the stalk of a leaflet in a + compound leaf. + + PHÆNOGAMOUS, same as Phanerogamous. + + PHANEROGAMOUS, having conspicuous flowers. + + PHYCOLOGY, the study of _Algæ_, or sea-weeds. + + PHYLLARIES, the leaflets forming the involucre of composite + flowers. + + PHYLLODIUM, the leaf-stalk, enlarged so as to have the appearance + of a leaf. + + PHYLLOTAXIS, the arrangement of the leaves on the axis. + + PHYSIOGNOMY, general appearance, without reference to botanical + characters. + + PHYSIOLOGY, vegetable, the study of the functions of plants. + + PHYTOLOGY, the study of plants; same as botany. + + PHYTOZOA, moving filaments in the antheridia of cryptogams. + + PILEATE, having a cup or lid like the cup of a mushroom. + + PILEORHIZA, a covering of the root, as in _Lemna_. + + PILEUS, the cap-like portion of the mushroom, bearing the + hymenium on its under side. + + PILOSE, provided with hairs; applied to pappus composed of simple + hairs. + + PINNA, the leaflet of a pinnate leaf. + + PINNATE, a compound leaf having leaflets arranged on each side of + a central rib. + + PINNATIFID, a simple leaf cut into lateral segments to about the + middle. + + PINNATIPARTITE, a simple leaf cut into lateral segments, the + divisions extending nearly to the central rib. + + PINNULE, the small pinnæ of a bipinnate or tripinnate leaf. + + PISTIL, the female organ of the flower, composed of one or more + carpels; each carpel being composed of ovary, style, and stigma. + + PISTILLATE and PISTILLIFEROUS, applied to a female flower or a + female plant. + + PISTILLIDIUM, the female organ in cryptogams. + + PITCHERS, vessels of this form at the end of the leaves of + _Nepenthes_, etc. + + PITH, same as Medulla. + + PLACENTA, the cellular part of the carpel, bearing the ovule. + + PLACENTATION, the formation and arrangement of the placentas. + + PLEURENCHYMA, woody tissue. + + PLEUROCARPI, mosses with the fructification proceeding laterally + from the axils of the leaves. + + PLICATE, folded like a fan. + + PLUMOSE, feathery; applied to hairs having two longitudinal rows + of minute cellular processes. + + PLUMULE, the first bud of the embryo, usually inclosed by the + cotyledons. + + PLURILOCULAR, having many loculaments. + + PODETIUM, a stalk bearing the fructification in some lichens. + + PODOSPERM, the cord attaching the seed to the placenta. + + POLLARD-TREES, cut down so as to leave only the lower part of the + trunk, which gives off numerous buds and branches. + + POLLEN, the powdery matter contained in the anther. + + POLLEN-TUBE, the tube emitted by the pollen grain after it is + applied to the stigma. + + POLLINIA, masses of pollen found in orchids and asclepiads. + + POLYADELPHOUS, stamens united by their filaments so as to form + more than two bundles. + + POLYANDROUS, stamens above twenty. + + POLYCARPIC, plants which flower and fruit many times in the + course of their life. + + POLYCOTYLEDONOUS, an embryo having many cotyledons, as in firs. + + POLYGAMOUS, plants bearing hermaphrodite as well as male and + female flowers. + + POLYMORPHOUS, assuming many shapes. + + POLYPETALOUS, a corolla composed of separate petals. + + POLYPHYLLOUS, a calyx or involucre composed of separate leaflets. + + POLYSEPALOUS, a calyx composed of separate sepals. + + POME, a fruit like the apple and pear. + + POROUS VESSELS, same as pitted or dotted vessels. + + POSTERIOR, applied to the part of the flower placed next the + axis; same as Superior. + + POUCH, the short pod or silicle of some _Cruciferæ_. + + PREMORSE, bitten; applied to a root terminating abruptly, as if + bitten off. + + PRICKLES, hardened epidermal appendages of a nature similar to + hairs. + + PRIMINE, the outer coat of the ovule. + + PRIMORDIAL UTRICLE, the lining membrane of cells in their early + state. + + PROCESS, any prominence or projecting part, or small lobe. + + PROCUMBENT, lying on the ground. + + PROEMBRYO, cellular body in an ovary, from which the embryo + and its suspensor are formed. Sometimes Proembryo is used for + Prothallus. + + PROLIFEROUS, bearing abnormal buds. + + PRONE, prostrate, lying flat on the earth. + + PROPAGULUM, an offshoot or germinating bud attached by a thickish + stalk to the parent plant. + + PROSENCHYMA, fusiform tissue forming wood. + + PROTHALLIUM, or PROTHALLUS, names given to the first part + produced by the spore of an acrogen in germinating. + + PROTOPLASM, the nitrogenous gelatinous matter in which the vital + activity of cells resides. + + PSEUDO-BULB, the peculiar aerial stem of many epiphytic orchids. + + PUBESCENCE, short and soft hairs covering a surface. + + PULULATING, budding. + + PULVERULENT, covered with fine powdery matter. + + PULVINATE, shaped like a cushion or pillow. + + PULVINOUS, cellular swelling at the point where the leaf-stalk + joins the axis. + + PUNCTATED, applied to the peculiar dotted woody fibres of + _Coniferæ_. + + PUTAMEN, the hard endocarp of some fruits. + + PYCNIDES, cysts containing stylospores found in some lichens. + + PYXIS, a capsule opening by a lid. + + + Q + + QUATENARY, composed of parts in fours. + + QUINARY, composed of parts in fives. + + QUINATE, five leaves coming off from one point. + + QUINCUNX, when the leaves in the bud are five, of which two are + exterior, two interior, and the fifth covers the interior with + one margin, and has its other margin covered by the exterior. + _Quincuncial_, arranged in a quincunx. + + + R + + RACE, a permanent variety. + + RACEME, an indefinite inflorescence, in which there is a primary + axis bearing stalked flowers. + + RACEMOSE, flowering in racemes. + + RACHIS, the axis of inflorescence; also applied to the stalk of + the frond in ferns, and to the common stalk bearing the alternate + spikelets in some grasses. + + RADICAL, belonging to the root; applied to leaves close to the + ground, clustered at the base of a flower-stalk. + + RADICLE, the young root of the embryo. + + RAMENTA, little brown withered scales with which the stems of + some plants are covered. + + RAMIFICATIONS, subdivisions of roots or branches. + + RAPHE, the line which connects the hilum and the chalaza in + anatropal ovules. + + RAPHIDES, crystals found in cells, which are hence called + _Raphidian_. + + RECEPTACLE, the flattened end of the peduncle rachis, bearing + numerous flowers in a head; applied also generally to the + extremity of the peduncle or pedicel. + + RECLINATE, curved downward from the horizontal, bent back up. + + RECURVED, bent backward. + + REDUPLICATE, edges of the petals or sepals turned outward in + æstivation. + + REGMA, seed-vessels composed of elastic cocci, as in _Euphorbia_. + + REGULAR, applied to an organ, the parts of which are of similar + form and size. + + RELIQUIÆ, remains of withered leaves attached to the plant. + + RENIFORM, in shape like a kidney. + + REPAND, having a slightly undulated or sinuous margin. + + REPLUM, a longitudinal division in a pod formed by the placenta, + as in _Cruciferæ_. + + RESUPINATE, inverted by a twisting of the stalk. + + RETICULATE, netted, applied to leaves having a network of + anastomosing veins. + + RETINACULUM, the glandular viscid portion at the extremity of the + caudicle in some Pollinia. + + RETRORSE, turned backward. + + RETUSE, when the extremity is broad, blunt, and slightly + depressed. + + REVOLUTE, leaf with its edges rolled backward in vernation. + + RHIZOME, a stem creeping horizontally, more or less covered by + the soil, giving off buds above and roots below. + + RHIZOTAXIS, the arrangement of the roots. + + RHOMBOID, quadrangular form, not square with equal sides. + + RIB, the projecting vein of a leaf. + + RINGENT, a labiate flower in which the upper lip is much arched. + + ROOT-STOCK, same as Rhizome. + + ROSETTE, leaves disposed in close circles forming a cluster. + + ROSTELLUM, a prolongation of the upper edge of the stigmas in + orchids. + + ROSTRATE, beaked. + + ROTATE, a regular gamopetalous corolla, with a short tube, the + limbs spreading out more or less at right angles. + + RUBEFACIENT, that which reddens the surface. + + RUDIMENTARY, an organ in an abortive state arrested in its + development. + + RUFOUS, rust-red. + + RUGOSE, wrinkled. + + RUMINATE, applied to mottled albumen. + + RUNCINATE, a pinnatifid leaf with a triangular termination, and + sharp divisions pointing downward, as in dandelion. + + RUNNERS, procumbent shoots which root at their extremity. + + RUSTY, rust-colored. + + + S + + SAGITTATE, like an arrow; a leaf having two prolonged + sharp-pointed lobes projecting downward beyond the insertion of + the petiole. + + SAMARA, a winged dried fruit, as in the elm. + + SAPONACEOUS, soap-like. + + SARMENTOSE, yielding runners. + + SARMENTUM, sometimes meaning the same as Flagellum, or runner; at + other times applied to a twining stem which supports itself by + means of others. + + SCABROUS, rough, covered with very stiff short hair. + + SCALARIFORM, vessels having bars like a ladder, seen in ferns. + + SCALES, small processes resembling minute leaves. + + SCANDENT, climbing by means of supports, as on a wall or rock. + + SCAPE, a naked flower-stalk, bearing one or more flowers arising + from a short axis, and usually with radical leaves at its base. + + SCARIOUS, or SCARIOSE, having the consistence of a dry scale, + membraneous, dry, and shriveled. + + SCION, the young twig used as a graft. + + SCLEROGEN, the thickening matter of woody cells. + + SCORPIOIDAL, like the tail of a scorpion; a peculiar twisted + cymose inflorescence, as in _Boraginaceæ_. + + SCURFY, applied to stems and leaves covered with loose scales. + + SECUND, turned to one side. + + SECUNDINE, the second coat of the ovule, within the primine. + + SEGMENTS, divisions. + + SEGREGATE, separated from each other. + + SEMINAL, applied to the cotyledons, or seed-leaves. + + SEPAL, one of the leaflets forming the calyx. + + SEPTATE, divided by septa or partitions. + + SEPTICIDAL, dehiscence of a seed-vessel through the septa or + edges of the carpels. + + SEPTIFRAGAL, dehiscence of a seed-vessel through the back of the + loculaments, the valves also separating from the septa. + + SEPTUM, a division in an ovary formed by the sides of the carpels. + + SERICEOUS, silky; covered with fine, close-pressed hairs. + + SERRATE, having sharp processes arranged like the teeth of a saw; + _Biserrate_, when these are alternately large and small, or where + the teeth are themselves serrated. + + SERRULATE, with very fine serratures. + + SESSILE, without a stalk, as a leaf without a petiole. + + SETA, a bristle or sharp hair; also applied to the gland-tipped + hairs of _Rosaceæ_ and _Hieracium_, and to the stalk bearing the + theca of mosses. + + SETACEOUS and SETIFORM, in the form of bristles. + + SETIFORM, bristle-shaped. + + SETOSE, covered with setæ and bristles. + + SHEATH, the lower part of the leaf surrounding the stem. + + SILICULA, a short pod with a double placenta and replum, as in + some _Cruciferæ_. + + SILIQUA, a long pod, similar in construction to the silicle. + + SIMPLE, not branching, not divided into separate parts. Simple + fruits are those formed by one flower. + + SINUOUS, with a wavy or flexuous margin. + + SINUS, the base or recesses formed by the lobes of leaves. + + SLASHED, divided by deep and very acute incisions. + + SOCIAL PLANTS, such as grow naturally in groups or masses. + + SOREDIA, powdery cells on the surface of the thallus of some + lichens. + + SPADIX, a succulent spike bearing male and female flowers, as in + _Arum_. + + SPATHE, large membraneous bract covering numerous flowers. + + SPAWN, same as Mycelium. + + SPECIFIC CHARACTER, the essential character of a species. + + SPERMAGONE, a microscopic conceptacle in lichens, containing + reproductive bodies called spermatia; also a conceptacle + containing fructification in fungi. + + SPERMATIA, motionless spermatozoids in the spermagones of lichens + and fungi. + + SPERMODERM, the general covering of the seed, sometimes applied + to the episperm or outer covering. + + SPHEROIDAL, nearly spherical. + + SPIKE, inflorescence consisting of numerous flowers sessile on an + axis. + + SPINE, or THORN, an abortive branch with a hard, sharp point. + + SPIRAL VESSELS, having a spiral fibre coiled up inside a tube. + + SPONGIOLE, the cellular extremity of a young root. + + SPORANGIUM, a case containing spores. + + SPORE, a cellular germinating body in cryptogamic plants. + + SPORIDIUM, a cellular germinating body in cryptogamia, containing + two or more cells in its interior. + + SPORULES, the small spores in cryptogamia. + + SQUAMIFORM, like scales. + + SQUAMOSE, covered with scales. + + SQUARROSE, covered with processes spreading at right angles, or + in a greater degree. + + STAMEN, the male organ of the flower formed by a stalk or + filament, and the anther containing pollen. + + STAMINATE, applied to a male flower, or to plants bearing male + flowers. + + STAMINODIUM, an abortive stamen. + + STANDARD, same as Vexillum. + + STELLATE, like a star. + + STERIGMATA, cells bearing naked spores; also cellular filaments + bearing spermata and stylospores in the spermogones and pycnides. + + STERILE, male flowers not bearing fruit. + + STICHIDIA, pod-like receptacles, containing spores. + + STIGMA, the upper cellular secreting portion of the pistil + uncovered with epidermis. + + STIGMATIC, belonging to the stigma. + + STIPE, the stalk of fern fronds; the stalk bearing the pileus in + Agarics. + + STIPEL, appendage at the base of a leaflet. + + STIPITATE, supported on a stalk. + + STIPULATE, furnished with stipules. + + STIPULE, appendage at the base of leaves. + + STOLON, a sucker at first aerial, and then rooting. + + STOLONIFEROUS, having creeping runners, which root at the joints. + + STOMATA, openings in the epidermis of plants, especially in the + leaves. + + STOOL, a plant from which layers are propagated by bending down + the branches so as to root in the soil. + + STRAP-SHAPED, same as Ligulate; linear, or about six times as + long as broad. + + STRIATED, marked by streaks or striæ. + + STRIGOSE, covered with rough, strong, adpressed hairs. + + STROBILUS, a cone, applied to the fruit of firs, as well as to + that of the hop. + + STROPHIOLE, a swelling on the surface of a seed. + + STRUMA, a cellular swelling at the point where a leaflet joins + the midrib; also a swelling below the sporangium of mosses. + + STYLE, the stalk interposed between the ovary and the stigma. + + STYLOPOD, an epigynous disk seen at the base of the styles of + _Umbelliferæ_. + + STYLOSPORE, a spore-like body, borne on a sterigma, or cellular + stalk, in the pycnides of lichens. + + SUBEROUS, having a corky texture. + + SUBTERRANEAN, underground; same as Hypogeal. + + SUBULATE, shaped like a cobbler’s awl. + + SUCCULENT, soft and juicy. + + SUFFRUTICOSE, having the characters of an under-shrub. + + SULCATE, furrowed or grooved. + + SUPERIOR, applied to the ovary when free, or not adherent to the + calyx; to the calyx, when it is adherent to the ovary; to the + part of a flower placed next the axis. + + SUPERNATANT, floating on the surface. + + SUPRA-DECOMPOUND, doubly compounded. + + SUSPENDED, applied to an ovule which hangs from a point a little + below the apex of the ovary. + + SUSPENSOR, the cord which suspends the embryo, and is attached to + the radicle in the young state. + + SUTURAL, applied to that kind of dehiscence which takes place at + the sutures of the fruit. + + SUTURE, the part where separate organs unite, or where the edges + of a folded organ adhere; the ventral suture of the ovary is that + next the centre of the flower; the dorsal suture corresponds with + the midrib. + + SYMMETRY, applied to the flower, has reference to the parts being + of the same number, or multiples of each other. + + SYNANTHEROUS, anthers united together. + + SYNCARPOUS, carpels united so as to form one ovary or pistil. + + SYNGENESIOUS, same as Synantherous. + + + T + + TAP-ROOT, root descending deeply in a tapering, undivided manner. + + TEGMEN, the second covering of the seed; called also Endopleura. + + TEGMENTA, scales protecting buds. + + TENDRILS, curling, twining organs, with which plants grasp + supports. + + TERATOLOGY, study of monstrosities and morphological changes. + + TERCINE, the third coat of the ovule, forming the covering of the + central nucleus. + + TERETE, nearly cylindrical. + + TERMINAL, at the top or end. + + TERNARY, parts arranged in threes. + + TERNATE, compound leaves composed of three leaflets. + + TESTA, the outer covering of the seed; some apply it to the + coverings taken collectively. + + TETRADYNAMOUS, four long stamens and two short, as in _Cruciferæ_. + + TETRAGONOUS, having four angles. + + TETRAMEROUS; a flower is tetramerous when its envelopes are in + fours. + + TETRASPORE, a germinating body in Algæ, composed of spore-like + cells, but also applied to those of three cells. + + THALAMIFLORAL, parts of the floral envelope inserted separately + into the receptacle of the thalamus. + + THALAMUS, the receptacle of the flower, or the part of the + peduncle into which the floral organs are inserted. + + THALLOGENS, or THALLOPHYTES, plants producing a thallus. + + THALLUS, cellular expansion in lichens and other cryptogams, + bearing the fructification. + + THECA, sporangium or spore-case, containing spores. + + THROAT, the orifice of a gamopetalous corolla. + + THYRSUS, a sort of panicle, in form like a bunch of grapes, the + inflorescence being mixed. + + TIGELLUS, the young embryonic axis. + + TOMENTOSE, covered with cottony, entangled pubescence, called + tomentum. + + TOMENTUM, dense, close hair. + + TOOTHED, dentated. + + TORUS, another name for Thalamus; sometimes applied to a + much-developed thalamus, as in _Nelumbium_. + + TRANSPIRATION, the exhalation of fluids by leaves, etc. + + TRIADELPHOUS, stamens united in three bundles by their filaments. + + TRIANGULAR, having three angles, the faces being flat. + + TRICHOTOMOUS, divided successively into three branches. + + TRIFOLIATE, or TRIFOLIOLATE, same as Ternate. When the three + leaves come off at one point the leaf is _ternately trifoliate_; + when there are a terminal stalked leaflet and two lateral ones, + it is _pinnately trifoliate_. + + TRIGONOUS, having three angles, the faces being convex. + + TRIMEROUS; a trimerous flower has its envelopes in three or + multiples of three. + + TRIPARTITE, deeply divided into three. + + TRIPINNATE, a compound leaf three times divided in a pinnate + manner. + + TRIPINNATIFID, a pinnatifid leaf with the segments twice divided + in a pinnatifid manner. + + TRIQUETROUS, having three angles, the faces being concave. + + TRITERNATE, three times divided in a ternate manner. + + TRUNCATE, terminating abruptly, as if cut off at the end. + + TRYMA, drupaceous fruit like the walnut. + + TUBER, a thickened underground stem, as the potato. + + TUBERCLE, the swollen root of some terrestrial orchids. + + TUBERCULATE, covered with knobs or tubercles. + + TUBEROUS, applied to roots in the form of tubercles. + + TUBULAR, bell-shaped; applied to a campanulate corolla, which is + somewhat tubular in its form. + + TUMID, swelling. + + TUNIC, a coat or envelope. + + TUNICATED, applied to a bulb covered by thin external scales, as + the onion. + + TURBINATE, in the form of a top. + + TURGID, swollen. + + TYPICAL, applied to a specimen which has eminently the + characteristics of the species, or to a species or genus + characteristic of an order. + + + U + + UMBEL, inflorescence in which numerous stalked flowers arise from + one point. + + UMBELLULE, a small umbel, seen in the compound umbellate flowers + of many _Umbelliferæ_. + + UMBILICATE, fixed to a stalk by a point in the centre. + + UMBILICUS, the hilum or base of a seed. + + UNARMED, without prickles or spines. + + UNCINATE, provided with an uncus, or hooked process. + + UNCTUOUS, oily. + + UNDULATE, waved. + + UNGUICULATE, furnished with a short unguis. + + UNGUIS, claw, the narrow part of a petal; such a petal is called + _Unguiculate_. + + UNICELLULAR, composed of a single cell, as some Algæ. + + UNILATERAL, arranged on one side, or turned to one side. + + UNISEXUAL, of a single sex; applied to plants having separate + male and female flowers. + + URGEOLATE, urn-shaped; applied to a gamopetalous globular corolla + with a narrow opening. + + + V + + VALVATE, opening by valves, like the parts of certain + seed-vessels, which separate at the edges of the carpels. + + VALVATE ÆSTIVATION and VERNATION, when leaves in the flower-bud + and leaf-bud are applied to each other by the margins only. + + VALVES, the portions which separate in some dehiscent capsules. + + VASCULAR TISSUE, composed of vessels. + + VEINS, fibro-vascular skeleton of leaves. + + VELUM, veil; the cellular covering of the gills of an Agaric in + its early state. + + VENATION, the arrangement of the veins. + + VENTRAL, applied to the part of the carpel which is next the axis. + + VERNATION, the arrangement of the leaves in the bud. + + VERRUCOSE, covered with wart-like excrescences. + + VERSATILE, applied to an anther which is attached by one point of + its back to the filament, and hence is very easily turned about. + + VERTEX, the uppermost point. + + VERTICAL, perpendicular. + + VERTICIL, a whorl; parts arranged opposite to each other at the + same level, or, in other words, in a circle round an axis. The + parts are said to be _Verticillate_. + + VERTICILLASTER, a false whorl, formed of two nearly sessile + cymes, placed in the axils of opposite leaves, as in dead nettles. + + VESICLE, another name for a cell or utricle. + + VEXILLARY, applied to æstivation when the vexillum is folded over + the other parts of the flower. + + VEXILLUM, standard, the upper or posterior petal of a + papilionaceous flower. + + VILLOUS, covered with long soft hairs, and having a wooly + appearance. + + VIRESCENT, green. + + VIRGATE, long and straight, like a wand. + + VISCOUS, or VISCID, clammy, like bird-lime. + + VITELLUS, the embryo-sac when persistent in the seed. + + VITTÆ, cells or clavate tubes containing oil in the pericarp of + _Umbelliferæ_. + + VIVIPAROUS, plants producing leaf-buds instead of fruit. + + VOLUBILE, twining; a stem or tendril twining round other plants. + + VOLVA, wrapper; the organ which incloses the parts of + fructification in some fungi in their young state. + + VULNERARY, having a healing power. + + + W + + WATTLED, having processes like the wattles of a cock. + + WHORLED, same as Verticillate. + + WINGS, the two lateral petals of a papilionaceous flower, or the + broad flat edge of any organ. + + + X + + XANTHOPHYLL, yellow coloring matter in plants. + + + Z + + ZONES, stripes or belts. + + ZOOSPORE, a moving spore provided with cilia, called also + Zoosperm and Sporozoid. + + +END OF VOLUME THREE + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In the Eocene of Australia. + +[2] The writer has shown that much of the material of the great +lignite beds of the Canadian Northwest consists of wood of _Sequoia_ +of both the modern types. + +[3] This famous tree was blown down by a storm in 1868. It was +believed to have been five or six thousand years old.--E. S. + +[4] Asplenium Ruta muraria. + +[5] I need hardly observe that, botanically, these are not true +seeds, but rather motile buds. + +[6] Some two out of one hundred and fifty species of Solanum are +useful to man. + +[7] Silk-plant, Stipa pennata. + +[8] Isabel color is a pale yellow, or buff, the shade of old linen, +and received its name from Isabel of Austria, daughter of Philip II +of Spain, who at the siege of Ostende, made the singular vow not +to change her linen until that town fell into her hands. The siege +lasted over three years.--E. S. + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE + + Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been + corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within + the text and consultation of external sources. + + Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, + when a predominant preference was found in the original book. + + Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, + and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. + + Pg 913: ‘sucessfully cultivated’ replaced by ‘successfully cultivated’. + Pg 932: ‘in in this zone’ replaced by ‘in this zone’. + Pg 954: ‘aborescent grasses’ replaced by ‘arborescent grasses’. + Pg 1105: ‘of Delphinum’ replaced by ‘of Delphinium’. + Pg 1180: ‘the Mauritus palm’ replaced by ‘the Mauritius palm’. + Pg 1233: ‘in differnt parts’ replaced by ‘in different parts’. + Pg 1236: ‘slivery leaves’ replaced by ‘silvery leaves’. + Pg 1272: ‘hav- a terminal’ replaced by ‘having a terminal’. + Pg 1276: ‘sepals or p tals’ replaced by ‘sepals or petals’. + Pg 1277: ‘which anastomose’ replaced by ‘which is anastomose’. + Pg 1280: ‘Peoliferous’ replaced by ‘Proliferous’. + Pg 1282: ‘adpresse hairs’ replaced by ‘adpressed hairs’. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77827 *** |