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66 THE UNIVERSE. 



fruit in miniature ; the style, which surmounts it, but which 

 is wanting in some other plants ; and, lastly, the stigma, 

 which expands into a trilobed swelling at its extremity. 



Such are the elements of the flower, and these, by their 

 close union or their monstrous anomalies, produce the in- 

 finite variety of forms which we admire throughout the 

 vegetable kingdom. 



A ceaseless source of fecundity, the flower is the object of 

 the most delicate protecting care. 



When yet scarcely outlined, downy scales lend warmth 

 to it, and form a soft pillow for its first lineaments, and the 

 exterior of the bud is sheathed with thin dry scales, covered 

 with resin to protect the organ n gainst moisture. 



As an extreme precaution some flowers are covered with 

 an envelope, or spathe, which does not fall till the time of 

 opening. In small-sized monocotyledons, such as the iris 

 (Fig. 174) and garlic, this envelope is very thin, mem- 

 branous, and transparent ; whilst in some great species like 

 the palms, this supplementary cradle of the young flowers 

 acquires colossal proportions : it is thick, woody, and re- 

 sembles a large cup one to two yards long, and this allows 

 the neoresses sometimes to make use of it as a bath for 

 their children. 



