118 



EDWARD. 



I think I have seen it in corn-fields. 



MOTHER. 



I dare say you have, for it grows in abundance 

 amongst corn, where it is a troublesome weed. 



EDWARD. 



What a thick calyx this flower has, with such 

 delicate petals ! 



MOTHER. 



The use of the calyx is to protect the other 

 parts, before the flower opens, and afterwards to 

 support them in their proper places : its figure 

 varies a good deal in different flowers ; and it is 

 sometimes altogether wanting, as in the tulip, 

 which has fleshy and firm petals, standing on a 

 broad and firm basis, and not requiring support. 

 Carnations, on the contrary, whose petals are par- 

 ticularly long and slender at the lower part, and 

 would be apt to break, have a calyx composed of 

 one piece; which is indented at the top, that it may 

 fold over the petals before they expand, and sup- 

 port them better, by spreading under them, when 

 the flower is in full blow. In some flowers, where 

 the petals are very long and slender, the calyx is 

 composed of several pieces, lying over each other 

 like the scales of fishes. 



The pretty little Wood- Sorrel, Oxa'lis aceto- 



