190 PLANTS. 



wanted, which is only when the plant is reaching its 

 full growth, and then they perform their duty in 

 a very short time. Till this period, they are careful- 

 ly and curiously wrapt up and protected, as we see in 

 the bud of a rose or the sheathe of a corn plant. 



The buds of some trees, such as the balm of Gilead 

 and the horse chestnut, are uncommonly large during 

 the winter, and are then covered over with a resinous 

 or gummy substance. We behold Creative design 

 and wisdom in this arrangement. In all these trees, 

 the pointals and stamens are very considerably advan- 

 ced when the winter overtakes them. The unusual 

 size of the buds is adapted to this circumstance. 

 " They are wrapped up in these buds with a com- 

 pactness which no art can imitate. This is not all. 

 The bud itself is inclosed in scales — which scales are 

 formed from the remains of past leaves and the rudi- 

 ments of future ones. Neither is this the whole. 

 In the coldest climates, a third provision is added by 

 the bud having a coat of gum or rosin, which being 

 congealed, resists the strongest frost. On the ap- 

 proach of warm weather, the gum is softened, and 

 ceases to be a hindrance to the leaves and flowers. 

 All this care is a part of that system of provisions 

 which has for its object the consummation and per- 

 fection of the seeds. 



The poppy, while it is growing, hangs down its 

 head, and in this position it is impenetrable by rain. 

 When the head has acquired its size, and is ready to 

 open, the stalk erects itself for the purpose, it should 

 seem, of presenting the flower, and with the flow- 



