242 



SHARP EYES 



without recourse to "design" to those accustomed 

 liberties with leaves and blossoms in the "convention- 

 alized " rosettes so prevalent in decoration. 



To the botanist this beautiful sym- 

 metry tells an interesting story, giv- 

 ing, as it does, a key to the entire 

 spiral arrangement of the leaves in the 

 mature plant, the stem being but a 

 prolongation of the axis upon which 

 the same progression of the rosette is 

 repeated. In the evening primrose, 

 for instance, we may count nine leaves 

 up the stem before we reach one di- 

 rectly over the first, or starting-point. A careful exami- 

 nation of the rosette discloses the same arrangement. 

 If we imagine the stem of the plant to consist of an 

 elastic cord at full tension, then 

 our rosette would represent the 

 resultant of its contraction to 

 the ground. 



In the instances of the moth- 

 mullein, thistle, and evening 

 primrose, we see typical bien- 

 nials, or plants which spend one 

 year in making a rosette, one 

 year to blossom, and die the 

 next. The plantain rosette is 

 perennial, renewed from year to 

 year from the same root. The peppergrass, with its 

 deeply-cut leaves shown above, is classed as an annual 

 by all botanists, though its millions of rosettes prove it 

 to be biennial as well, for many of them abide the winter 

 awaiting the spring for bloom. 



