86 PROSERPINA. 



racter which we do not enough value in them. 

 We usually think of the poppy as a coarse flower ; 

 but it is the most transparent and delicate of all 

 the blossoms of the field. The rest — nearly all of 

 them — depend on the texture of their surfaces for 

 colour. But the poppy is painted glass ; it never 

 glows so brightly as when the sun shines through 

 it. Wherever it is seen — against the light or with 

 the light— always, it is a flame, and warms the 

 wind like a blown ruby. 



In these two qualities, the accurately balanced 

 form, and the perfectly infused colour of the petals, 

 you have, as I said, the central being of the 

 flower. All the other parts of it are necessary, 

 but we must follow them out in order. 



16. Looking down into the cup, you see the 

 green boss divided by a black star, — of six rays 

 only, — and surrounded by a few black spots. My 

 rough-nurtured poppy contents itself with these for 

 its centre; a rich one would have had the green 

 boss divided by a dozen of rays, and surrounded 

 by a dark crowd of crested threads. 



This green boss is called by botanists the pistil, 

 which word consists of the two first syllables of 

 the Latin pistillum, otherwise more familiarly Eng- 

 lished into ' pestle.' The meaning of the botanical 

 word is of course, also, that the central part of a 



