THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. :[j 



of Linnseus beheld only the picture of a chaste mar- 

 riage. Plants which are ornamented with visible 

 ilowers exhibit an endless variety of size, form, color- 

 ing, and perfume. While some, such as the valerians, 

 bear such tiny corollas that we can scarcely make them 

 out, the lilies and irises exhibit grand and sumptuous 

 structures of this class, which rivet every person's atten- 

 tion ; and yet some exotic plants leave them far behind 

 in this respect. 



The flower of one Aristolochia, which grows on 

 the banks of the Magdalena, presents the appearance 

 of a casque with great edges. The opening of it is so 

 large that it will admit the head of a man ; and Hum-' 

 boldt relates that, when travelling along by this river, 

 he sometimes encountered savages wearing this flower 

 on their heads like a hat. 



But it is on the surface of rivers that the pomp of 

 vegetation is displayed. Nature nowhere shows 

 another flower which for size, united to coloring, can 

 be compared to those of the Nympheae and the Ne- 

 lumbia. By gentle gradation they pass from the 

 purest white to the most velvety red or the most 

 delicate blue ! In every age the magnificent plants 

 have attracted man's attention and been the object of 

 his admiration. Art has made a splendid use of them ; 

 and to them the ancient myths owe some of their 

 most delicate and beautiful conceptions. 



They play a great part in mythology and on Egyp- 

 tian monuments. The colonnades of Thebes and 

 Philoe, which seem to defy the hand of time, are 

 crowned with capitals representing flowers of the 



