FLOWERS OF THE SUN 



229 



having that peculiar quality which we see in the 

 Night -blooming Cactus, while the stamens form a 

 thick ornamental tassel. Although 

 the plants were still in full bloom, 

 there were many withered flowers 

 and also some of the 

 prickly pear-shaped 

 fruits, which in time 

 become a dull red, 

 and are edible for those 

 liking their flat, sickly- 

 sweet flavor. 



Across the road the 

 Wild Roses varied from 

 pale pink to deep car- 

 mine, according to the 

 fulness or the newness 

 of their bloom, and in 

 dry places thorny wands 

 of Sweet-briar, studded with its 

 flesh -white flowers, made grace- 

 ful arches. Farther afield, where 

 the remains of a stone fence, long since tumbled 

 down, gave protection and drew moisture, was a 

 long line of white foam, the flowers of Meadow 

 Sweet Spirea. This white line, as it broke abruptly 



