FLOWERS. 



31 



Umbel, Carrot. 



worth witnessing, to see in the 



same forest perhaps hundreds of 



these lovely blossoms hanging in 



profusion from the branches of 



the trees, and loading the atmo- 



sphere with the most delicious 



fragrance. The plants upon 



which they grow are parasites, 



and fasten their roots into the 



trunks and branches of the trees. The flowers are 



white, and very large, often measuring as much as 



nine or ten inches in diameter. They commence to 



blow early in the evening, and remain open during 



most of the night, when they close, to bloom no more. 



But the Evening Primrose is a much more familiar 



instance in which the approach of darkness is hailed 



by the opening flower. This beautiful and interesting 



plant grows abundantly in our fields, and on the 



borders of our woods; and is frequently culti- 



vated in our gardens. It unfolds its pale yellow blos- 



soms in the latter part of the day, and 



the process of opening is of so re- 



markable a nature as to claim parti- 



cular notice. The divisions of the 



calyx are furnished with little hooks 



at their extremities, by which the 



flower is held together before expan- 



sion. These divisions open gradually 



at the bottom, so as to show the yel- 



low corolla within, when suddenly the 



flower bursts from its confinement, and opens about 



-I 



Corymb, Candy 

 Tuft. 









