CHAPTER V. 



REMARKABLE FLOWERS AND LEAVES. 



WHEN we are acquainted with the structure and 

 growth of plants, there is not one that does not 

 appear remarkable to us, no matter how small or 

 how common it may be. The microscope has taught 

 us that "small" and ''insignificant" are not synony- 

 mous terms, and a little study will convince any one 

 that the meanest and commonest wayside weed is as 

 much entitled to our respect for beauty as the most 

 gorgeous and choicely perfumed exotic our conserva- 

 tories afford. But wonderful as all plants and all 

 living things are, there are some which stand out 

 more prominently than others on account of excep- 

 tional beauty, grotesqueness, or other peculiarity of 

 form. Thus among the Orchids, an exceedingly 

 interesting group of plants, we have one species 

 in which each blossom resembles a fly; others of 

 the same group are supposed to bear a resemblance 

 to a bee, a spider, a lizard, a human hand, and seve- 

 ral other forms. Then there are plants which have 

 their leaves or flowers so constructed that any insect 

 of a prying nature is made to suffer for its inquisi- 

 tiveness by being held a prisoner and killed. But to 

 these more extended reference is made elsewhere in 



