178 COLIN CLOUT'S CALENDAR. 



begins to branch off into numerous sprays to right and 

 left ; and these sprays are covered with clusters of f eatli- 

 ery green spikes, closely resembling foliage, and not at 

 all unlike the needles of firs and some other conifers. 

 In reality, however, these apparent leaves are abortive 

 flower-stalks ; while the only true leaves on the branches 

 are some very small and almost microscopical scales 

 around the point where the needles diverge from the stem 

 that bears them. It is true the little wiry branches do 

 all the work that real leaves ought to do ; they are quite 

 green, and they act as digesters of carbon from the air 

 for the plant ; so that it seems at first sight a hard say- 

 ing to be told that they are at bottom only flower-stalks. 

 Yet so certain is that curious fact, that even long before 

 evolution was dreamt of, all technical botanists had fully 

 made up their minds that the apparent leaves of aspara- 

 gus and its allies must be theoretically described as 

 " abortive pedicels." And this is probably the way that 

 such a strange freak of nature first came about. 



Asparagus is a simple species of lily which lias taken 

 (in its wild state) to growing in very dry and sandy soils. 

 Now, the lily type of leaf, as we all know, is a long thin 

 succulent blade, extremely ill-adapted for dry or sandy 

 places. Hence all the lilies which are driven by circum- 

 stances to take up their abode in such spots have been 

 forced to get rid of their own real leaves, and to develop 

 some other distinct organ into a serviceable foliar substi- 

 tute in their place. If they did not do so, they died out 

 entirely, and there was an end of them ; only those 

 which happened to accommodate themselves to their en- 

 vironment in this particular succeeded in finally surviv- 

 ing ; and among such survivors are the asparagus bushes 

 of the present day. 



How such changes began to take place we can better 



