Some Anomalies 



The rose-tree sets us this puzzle : 



"We are five brothers; two of us have 



beards, two have none and the fifth has half 



a beard." 



The case has even been stated in a Latin 



couplet : 



Quinque sumus fratres: unus barbatus et 



alter; 

 Imberbesque duo; sum semiberbis ego. 



Who are the five brothers? None other 

 than the five lobes of the rose's calyx, the 

 five sepals. Let us examine them one by one. 

 We shall find two of them furnished on both 

 edges with leafy or beard-like appendages, 

 which sometimes revert to the original form 

 and expand into folicles similar to those of 

 the leaves proper. Botany in fact teaches 

 us that a sepal is a modified leaf. These are 

 the two brothers with beards. 



We shall see two others totally devoid of 

 appendages on either side. These are the 

 two brothers without beards. Lastly, the 

 fifth will show us one bare and one bearded 

 surface. This one represents the brother 

 with half a beard. 



These are not casual variations, differing 

 from flower to flower; all the roses present 

 267 



