PERSONALITY OF PLANTS 
sure of the promise of spring? When the Al- 
pine flowers are so positive that spring has 
really come that they push their inquiring heads 
up through the snow which still covers the 
mountains, they are showing a superhuman 
faith, literally risking death in order that they 
may get a strong and early start in life. 
Charityr When trees like the Oak and the 
Maple allow a whole multitude of lesser plants 
to dwell in the snugness of their shadows, they 
are showing forth some of the kindly qualities 
of plantdom. If they chose to they could dis- 
courage lowly neighbours after the manner of 
the monopolistic Beech or the aristrocatic Pine. 
Name a human sin or virtue, good quality 
or bad, and one does not have to search far in 
the plant world for its counterpart. Along with 
kindness, mercy, gratitude, submissiveness, and 
parental love we also find cruelty, hard-hearted- 
ness, ingratitude, arrogance and neglect of off- 
spring. Even at that, the credit side always ex- 
ceeds the debit and no plant is guilty of self- 
destruction. It must be borne in mind, that what 
we call sin and malignity are to them legitimate 
courses of action. 
[208] 
