194 Blossom and Seed 



but it is a conservatory plant, not a tree, yet its blos- 

 soms measure half a foot across and it bears at times 

 as many as twenty or thirty together. 



The largest known blossom, however, is that of the 

 extraordinary Rafflesia Arnoldi, a native of Java and 

 Sumatra, which, much more truly than even the orchids, 

 is 'all blossom,' for it has neither branches, leaves, nor 

 roots. Of course, therefore, it must needs be a parasite, 

 living by and sucking the life-juices from others ; and 

 it produces a huge blossom, more than a yard across, 

 mainly at the expense of the vine -like plant upon 

 which it fixes itself. 



It is not by any means a beautiful object, and its 

 petals, which are thick and fleshy in texture as well as 

 flesh-coloured, have the smell of tainted beef. This 

 monster takes several months to come to perfection, 

 and then weighs about fifteen pounds ; after which it 

 begins, in a few days, to wither away. 



An ordinary, complete, simple blossom, whether 

 large or small, brightly coloured or inconspicuous, con- 

 sists of two sets of parts, or organs, an outer and an 

 inner set. It is the function of the inner set to form 

 the seed ; and it is the function of the outer set to 

 protect the inner from all injury, and also, in many 

 cases, to attract the under-gardeners already referred 

 to, whose good offices are required for the development 

 of the seed. 



The perfecting of the seed is the great thing to be 

 accomplished ; and those parts of the blossom which 

 contribute to this object are placed in the centre, as 

 far out of harm's way as possible. If we examine, for 

 instance, a common primrose, splitting it carefully 



