CHAPTER VII 
ART IN THE PLANT WORLD 
“As if the rainbows of the fresh mild spring 
Had blossomed where they fell.” | 
HE plants are perfect artists. From the 
budding of the Rose to the sudden shoot- 
ing forth of the seeds of the Wistaria, everything 
they do is in perfect taste. Ugly flowers are 
decidedly uncommon. Those which human 
judgment declares to be less lovely than their 
fellows have their attractive points, if we take 
the trouble to look for them. If art is a desire 
for beauty, a searching after perfect harmony, 
then the plants and flowers are the most artistic 
creatures in the universe. 
Plant colours are particularly interesting. 
The flowers are master-craftsmen when it 
comes to the adornment of dainty, delicate pe- 
tals with pigments which are the distilled es- 
sence of a thousand rainbows. No other qual- 
ity in the natural world gives man a deeper 
emotional enjoyment. Floral colours speak a 
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