The Daffodil 



different part of a plant after its own 

 peculiar manner. Leaves, for instance, 

 have but little capability for expressing 

 sun-power. They may be regarded as 

 the shady portion of the plant ; their 

 very place is to be cool, a ground upon 

 which to display the blossoms. They 

 rarely assume warm tints, except in the 

 autumnal withering of the trees per- 

 haps an acknowledgment that too much 

 colour is incompatible with the condi- 

 tion of their healthy existence. But 

 green, the characteristic leaf -tint, re- 

 quires little sun for its development. It 

 is the tint of mosses, ferns, and the 

 least organised plants in general, of the 

 early spring, and of the cooler temperate 

 zone. And the green parts of plants are 

 generally the first to be seen, the flowers 

 requiring more sun - power to awaken 

 them. 



The flower is the light of a plant, just 

 as leaves may be considered as its shade. 

 This light may be a blue and cool one; 

 it may even be found, as in some Pansies, 

 nearly approaching blackness ; but still it 

 has a vividness, a stimulating power, far 

 exceeding that of the green, which is the 

 most restful tint we know, and it gene- 

 rally expresses sun - force in responsive 

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