THE OAK. 15 



come the flowers, though not such flowers as we use 

 for bouquets; nature has other ways of fashioning 

 flowers than after the model of the rose or lily. To 

 note these diverse ways is one of the great rewards 

 and charms of Botany, which does not mean calling 

 plants by Latin names, but exploring the nature of 

 their various parts, discovering how exquisitely they 

 are fitted for their several uses and destinies, com- 

 paring one form of leaf or flower with another, and 

 discerning step by step that nature is all one song, 

 but coming forth in countless tones, or rather like 

 an oratorio, where we never have two parts exactly 

 alike, yet everywhere repetition and reverberation to 

 the ear that knows how to listen. Flowers are not 

 necessarily sumptuous and fragrant and brilliant- 

 hued in order to be flowers. The idea of a flower 

 implies simply a certain apparatus for the produc- 

 tion of seed, and that this be large or small is of no 

 more importance than that the heavenly teachings 

 should be printed in one kind of type or another. 

 It is worthy of note also that the timber-trees of 

 the north are remarkable, as a rule, for the smallness 

 and the simplicity of their flowers. The short-lived 

 vegetation of the field and garden seems decked 

 with its sweet flower-brightness in compensation. 

 Where our hearts are to be lifted up in admiration 

 of strength and majesty, gaiety and showy tints can 

 be dispensed with. 



The flowers of the oak, as said above, make their 



