A SPRIG OF WATER CROWFOOT. 39 



be compared to a branched coral polypedom 

 covered with a thousand little insect workers, 

 while each leaf answers rather to the separate 

 polypes themselves. The leaves are even 

 capable of producing new individuals by 

 what they contribute to the buds on every 

 branch ; and the seeds which the tree as a 

 whole produces are to be looked upon rather 

 as the founders of fresh colonies, like the 

 swarms of bees, than as fresh individuals 

 alone. Every plant community, in short, 

 both adds new members to its own common- 

 wealth, and sends off totally distinct germs 

 to form new commonwealths elsewhere. 

 Thus the leaf is, in truth, the central reality 

 of the whole plant, while the flower exists 

 only for the sake of sending out a ship- 

 load of young emigrants every now and 

 then to try their fortunes in some unknown 

 soil. 



The whole life-business of a leaf is, of 

 course, to eat and grow, just as these same 

 functions form the whole life-business of a 



