82 SUMMER FLOWERS. 



exteriorly ; theu come the numerous petals, set in several rows, 

 and passing gradually into the also numerous stamens, the 

 anthers of which are adnate or fixed by their whole length. 

 The ovaries too, are numerous, imbedded in the thick recep- 

 tacle, forming separate cells radiating from a common centre, 

 while the petals and stamens are attached to the outside of 

 the receptacle nearly as high as the top of the cells. 



One interesting peculiarity has been recorded of the White 

 Water Lily, namely, that its flowers expand only in bright 

 weather, and close towards evening, when they either recline 

 on the surface of the water, or sink beneath it ; so that it has 

 been called "day's own flower," and described as "drooping 

 its head beneath the waves," there " watching, weeping, 

 through the live-long night, impatient for the dawn." 



From this water-fairy let us pass to the flaunting Poppy^ 

 of the cornfields — type of the Papaveraceous family. Here 

 we have an erect branched annual plant, with hairy leaves ai.d 

 stems, the leaves deeply cut in what is called a pinnatifid 

 manner, and the flowers large and specious, but fugacioiiF. 

 The calyx consists of a pair of hairy sepals, quickly deciduous, 

 being pushed off* by the expansion of the corolla, which latter 

 consists of four broad, spreading, nearly equal, overlapping 

 bright scarlet petals, that are crumpled not folded in the bud. 

 The ovary, which is somewhat top-shaped, with the stigma ra- 

 diating on its flat sessile disk, is imperfectly many-celled and 

 filled with small seeds, which escape by means of a series of 

 apertures beneath the rim of the stigmatic disk. 



In waste places, especially in limestone districts, will be 

 found the spike-like inflorescence of the AVild ;Mignonette,t a 

 member of the Resedaceous family, forming a dwarfish herb, 



* Ta/paver Shaeas — Plate 7 C. 

 t Reseda lutea — Plate 7 D. 



