1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



13 



stalks, bearing the flowers. The flower consists, 

 first, of a eliol-t, five-notched green bell; this is 

 called the calyx. Second, tbnr while or pink 

 leaves, ditferent in form, and tar more delicate in 

 texture than the common leaves of the plant : 

 these form, what is commonly called, the flower; 

 in botany, they are termed petals, and taken col- 

 lectively, form what is termed, the corolla. Third, 

 ten slender thread-like organs, united throughout 

 the greater part of their length, into two sets, one 

 set containing nine, and the other but one ; these 

 are termed sta7nens. Fourth, at the very centre 

 of the flower, are several small green stem-like 

 organs, growing from the end of the young pod ; 

 these ar^ termed pistils. The calyx, corolla, 

 stamens and pistils, are called organs of fructifica- 

 tion, because they are principally concerned in 

 the production of the fruit. 



Such is the common garden bean; and such are 

 the organs of which all the most perfectly formed 

 plants are composed. Lowly a species as it is, it 

 comprehends every part employed by nature in \he 

 formation of the loftiest tree of the forest. The 

 vast superiority in size which a tree possesses 

 over a bean, is caused by nothing more than an 

 endless multiplication of similar parts, constructed 

 always upon a similar plan, adjusted to each 

 other in the same admirable manner, and all work- 

 ing together in the same perfect harmony and or- 

 der. The bean lives but ibr a summer; the oak, 

 on the other hand, lives from year to year, and 

 from age to age. This diflerence, however, is not 

 owing to any material difference in the structure of 

 ihe two species ; but to a specific power of i)ro- 

 longing its life, inherent in trees, which plants, 

 such as the bean, are destitute of To get a 

 clearer idea of the manner in which this differ- 

 ence in size is produced, let us suppose a bean 

 during its summer's growth, to produce a stem 

 with ten leaves ; and that this stem is hard and 

 perennial, instead of soft and annual. As all pe- 

 rennial plants form a bud at the base of each of 

 their leaves, and as each bud is in fact a rudimen- 

 tary branch, during the second year of its growth 

 the bean may develope ten branches, and, in this 

 way, multiply its dimensions ten times. During 

 the third year, the same operation may take place, 

 and the coiisequence of this will be, an augmenui- 

 tion equal to one hundred times its original dimen- 

 .sions ; and thus it may go on increasing in geo- 

 metric ratio. At this rate, a bean would soon de- 

 velope into an enormous tree ; and although that 

 species never does thus change its nature, yet it is 

 true, that every tree, during the first year of its 

 growth, is formed upon a plan analogous to that 

 of the bean, and never more complicated ; and 

 that its subsequent growth into a giant of the fo- 

 rest, takes place, upon the plan which has just 

 been described, in a supposed case. 



When we assume the common garden bean as 

 the type of vegetables, we ascribe all the differ- 

 ences which exist between it and other plants. 

 to the absence, alteration, or else multiplication, of 

 its several parts. In assuming so important a 

 type as that of the whole class of vegetables, it 

 is proper that we should notice some of the more 

 common variations in form, which other plants 

 present. In the bean, the root is easily distin- 

 guished from the stem; and is of nearly the same 

 size with it. Such is the fict with respect to most 

 plants; some, however, present great variations 



from this, thf. typical form. In the relative size 

 of the root and stem, the liicern clover (medicago 

 sativu) may be mentioned as an instance; with 

 astern not more than six inches in length, it will 

 sometimes have a root thirty feet long; /. c. sixty 

 times as long as (he stem. On the other hand, 

 the dodder or love-vine, as it is sometimes called, 

 ( Cascuta yimericana) a bright yellow, leafless 

 vine, to be found in meadows during the summer, 

 tvvininff around other plants, has no roots at all, 

 except in the early part of its growth. So inde- 

 pendent is it of all nourishment derived immedi- 

 ately from the ground, that if a handful of it be 

 torn loose, and thrown upon a tree, it will almost 

 always grow. Perhaps the most curious depar- 

 ture from the typical form (so far as the root is 

 concerned,) if! that presented by some species of 

 lichens. These appear like irregular, leafy ex- 

 pansions, laymg flat upon the ground, or more 

 commonly upoa the surface of rocks. Instead 

 of having any regular root, the whole lower sur- 

 face of the leaf acts the part of a root, absorbing 

 nourishment for the plant fi-om the ground. One 

 of these species, common on the plains of South 

 America, grows very rapidly durintr a rainy sea- 

 son, and will sometimes spread itself over a space 

 of a square toot. When the sun comes out, dry- 

 ing the atmosphere as well as the plant itselfj it 

 breaks into many pieces, each piece rolling up, 

 with its lower side outwards. In this condition, 

 having no roofs to attach it to the soil, ii is blown 

 about, the sport of every blast. But, no sooner 

 does it commence raining again, than these pieces 

 unroll, and spreading themselves flat upon the 

 ground, again commence growing; each separate 

 piece giving rise to a new plant. 



The common garden bean has a strong, well- 

 proportioned stem, standing erect, and sustaining^ 

 by its own strength, its leaves and fruit. The 

 pole bean, a species of the same plant, has a long, 

 slender, twining stem, unable, withouf assistance, 

 to support even its own weight; much less that 

 of its leaves and fruit. In the bear., the stem is 

 easily distinguishable from Ihe leaves; differing 

 from them in form, texture, &c. In the pricklv 

 pear-, (cactus opiintin,) on the ether hand, there 

 is no distinct stem or leaves ; the whole plant hav- 

 ing the appearance of a series of thick, succulent 

 leaves, one growing out from the end of another. 

 There is a South American species of cactus, fre- 

 quently cultivated in green-houses, which rises 

 into the air, like a naked green club, bearing nei- 

 ther leaves, nor any thing like leaves. The dod- 

 der, also, may be mentioned, as a plant entirely 

 destitute of leaves. The leaves of the bean are 

 green ; those of the Indian pipe, (monoiropa 

 unijlora,) as well as all the other parts of the 

 plant, are perfecily white ; and what is not a liille 

 remarkable, turn black, wherever injured. Blush- 

 rooms have a regular stem, but no distinct leaves, 

 flowers, or fruit. The species of fungus, commonly 

 called puff' ball, (hovista nigrcscc7is,^ is nolhing 

 more than a ball of vegetable matter ; havinij nei- 

 ther root, stem, leaves, flowers, nor iiuii distinct 

 from each other, but all amalgamated in one com- 

 mon rnass. Such are some of the deparliires 

 from their typical form, which different plants pre- 

 sent. A more full account of them will be given, 

 when we come to examine the several organs of 

 plants in detail. 



