June 1, 1S6S.] 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



123 



fore, still more likely to be injured. When, how- 

 ever, the flower has opened to the sunshine, and 

 the stamens have shed their pollen, and the florets 

 begin to wither, the involucre closes tightly on the 

 young downy seeds, completely concealing them ; 

 but not only so, the flower-head, erect hitherto, 

 bends downwards, so that the scales of the involucre 

 form a beautiful cauopy over the delicate seeds, and 

 thoroughly protect them. Thus they grow and 

 swell till they are ripe, or nearly so ; when, lo ! 

 another wonder. The stalk again becomes erect, 

 and the ripened seeds are again exposed to the air 

 and sunshine. The feathery down is soon dried, 

 and the wind blows the seeds away, and sows them 

 on new ground. 



The Strawberry - leaved Potentilla {Potentilla 

 fragariastrum) is one of the very earliest of flowers, 

 and its seeds, like those of Coltsfoot, are apparently 

 naked. But as soon as the petals have fallen, the 

 double calyx closes again, and the seeds are safely 

 shut up, as if in a bud or a seed-vessel ; besides 

 which, the plant is not only an early bloomer, but 

 it flowers all through the summer, so that if the 

 early seeds are injured, the later ones are sure to 

 ripen. 



Another very early flower is the lesser Celandine, 

 Ranunculus ficaria, which propagates to such an 

 extent by offsets that it apparently matters very 

 little whether any seed ripens or not. 



Gorse flowers as early as January, but its seeds 

 seem to be protected at first by the velvety texture 

 of the carpel supplying warmth, afterwards by the 

 hardness of the pod ; besides which, though flower- 

 ing so early, the seeds do not ripen till late. 



The economy of the Crocus is very beautiful. If 

 a flower be examined, there is apparently no ovary 

 at all, but in reality the part which we took for the 

 stalk is the tube of the flower, and its base, contain- 

 ing the ovary, is close upon the top of the bulb ; so, 

 deeply buried in the ground, and safe from all the 

 changes of the weather, the seed is being matured, 

 until, after the coldest weather is over, it pushes its 

 way upwards, and appears above the surface, where 

 the process of ripening is soon finished in the 

 influence of the warm sunshine of May. 



Several of the earliest of the spring flowers come 

 out a long while before the leaves. A beautiful 

 yellow Jasmin, Jasminum midiflorum, Mezereon, 

 many willows, many plums, almonds, peaches, and 

 apricots are all of this class ; whilst the Colchicum 

 and the autumn Crocus flower so very early, that 

 they are waking up when others are going to rest — 

 their spring-time being in the autumn. The reason 

 of these plants flowering before they are in leaf is 

 not very apparent. Possibly they would not have 

 time to mature their seeds unless fertilized thus 

 early. Possibly their flowers require a full glare of 

 light, and would be injured by any shadow from 

 leaves. But whatever be the reason of their pecu- 



liar economy, they supply bees and other insects 

 with early food, when food is especially wanted by 

 them ; and perhaps, after all, this may be just the 

 reason why the Good Creator, mindful of the least 

 of His creatures, has given them these unusual habits. 

 A very pretty vernal phenomenon arises out of the 

 decay of the autumn leaves. It is a very common 

 thing to find in the spring skeletons of the last 

 year's leaves that have been exposed to the frosts 

 and rains and winds of winter, till all the soft parts 

 have decayed away, leaving only a network of fibres. 

 These skeleton leaves, when perfect, are very pretty, 

 and they may be made still more beautiful by being 

 bleached in a very weak solution of chloride of lime. 

 Poplar leaves and holly leaves are the most fre- 

 quently found skeletonized naturally, but almost any 

 leaf, and many fruits, seedpods, and parts of flowers 

 may be operated upon artificially by soaking them 

 in shallow pans of rain-water, and turning them very 

 often, until the pulpy part which lies at each side 

 and between the fibres is sufficiently decayed to 

 allow of its being washed away by holding in a stream 

 of water ; any pulp that remains must be picked off 

 by some sharp-pointed instrument. Much patience, 

 care, and delicate handling is required, but when 

 successfully managed, a group of skeleton leaves and 

 fruits is one of the most beautiful ornaments for the 

 drawing-room that can be conceived. 



None of the phenomena of Spring are more won- 

 derful than the germination of seed. Every seed 

 consists of an outer skin, called the integument, and 

 a baby plant, or embryo, which is swathed up iu the 

 integument. The embryo consists of seed leaves 

 called cotyledons, and a germ, or bud, which after- 

 wards lengthens upwards, forming leaves, and 

 downwards forming roots. The embryo is a living 

 body, but the vital force remains latent until the 

 conditions are fulfilled which are capable of calling 

 forth the hidden life. Those conditions are a certain 

 amount of heat, moisture, and air. 



In some plants, like the Sycamore, the cotyledons 

 are green and leaf- like even when rolled up in the 

 seed, and as soon as they expand serve the ordinary 

 purposes of leaves. In others, like acorns, beans, 

 and peas, the cotyledons are thick and solid, and 

 filled with starchy matter, being a storehouse of 

 food for the young plant. Sometimes the embryo 

 is surrounded by a quantity of albumen, as it is called, 

 which also supplies food to the young plant. In the 

 grass tribe this albumen occupies by far the largest 

 part of the seed. 



When a seed is buried in the soil, it starts into 

 Life, or rather its latent life becomes active under 

 the stimulus of heat, air, and moisture. The germ 

 begins to grow, bursting through the integument, 

 and pushing a delicate root downwards into the soil, 

 and a tender shoot upwards into the air. Both are 

 very tender, and unable to draw sufficient nourish- 

 ment from the soil and the air, but Nature has 



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