THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 225 



daylight. The lily, for example, with its thick, firm 

 petals of dead white, requires daylight to bring out 

 its full beauty; but the transparent petals of the 

 yucca, of a greenish white, and looking dull in broad 

 daylight, gleam with a silvery brightness in the 

 moonlight ; nor is it only the plant which does not 

 assume its true tint in the daytime, but the flower, 

 which like all bell-shaped flowers, is unable to close en- 

 tirely after it has once opened, contracts and nearly 

 shuts up at noon, and lets its tiny bells droop sadly. 

 The leaves, also, which at night seem vigorous and large, 

 and stand out boldly from the stem in the shape of a 

 fan, like the palm, appear languid and imperfectly 

 formed during the day. Their edges seem ragged 

 and unequal, as if nature, dissatisfied with her work, 

 had left them without bestowing the last and finishing 

 touches. On the day after the night on which my 

 yuccas first bloomed I could not understand my mis- 

 apprehension, for the flowers seemed to have lost all 

 their beauty. But on the second evening I returned 

 to the garden. There, in the soft light of the moon, 

 my precious flowers expanded more lovely than be- 

 fore. The stem rose up into the air, straight as an 

 arrow, all the flower bells grouped themselves around 

 it in the most graceful way, and the petals, more 

 transparent than crystal, shone with a softer light 

 than diamonds; the outlines were clearly defined, 

 and yet as airy as if they had been woven by 

 the light of the moon. The leaves, which had ap- 

 peared ragged during the day, seemed now bordered 

 with the finest gossamer fringes. I gazed at my 

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