214 MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWERS 



tiful cardinal flower were carried up to the head- 

 waters of our many narrow brooks and streams. 



EDIBLE FRUITS AND SEEDS 



Most berries and fruits take on brilliant and at- 

 tractive colours as they ripen, making an irresistible 

 appeal to the eye as well as to the appetite. The 

 reader will remember the dramatic story of Buddha, 

 who came face to face with a mother tiger, famished 

 and madly seeking food for her young, and how 

 the Prince, making a supreme sacrifice of his own 

 body, permitted the tigress to devour him, know- 

 ing full well that he should have another reincarna- 

 tion. This legend finds a striking parallel in the 

 lives of those plants which offer their lucious fruits 

 to be eaten, thereby seeking a reincarnation and 

 renewal of life. 



The rose "pips" and hawthorn "haws," the bunch- 

 berries and the fruits of false Solomon's seal, straw- 

 berries, raspberries, and cherries are but the most 

 common and familiar examples of an enormous 

 class of showy and attractive fruits. 



POISONOUS FRUITS 



It is well known that some fruits are poisonous, 

 and, as Nature is never uselessly and vindictively 



