74 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



gave the name of Fiords Titnepiece. In this 

 table, tlie plants are arranged according to the 

 ■ hour at which their flowers expand. 



The state of the atmosphere appears to have a 

 decided inflnence upon the flowers of certain 

 plants. Thus, Calendula phmalis closes its 

 flower when the sky is overcast, or when a 

 thunder-storm threatens to burst. Sonchus si- 

 biricus, on the other hand, opens and expands 

 only when the weather is hazy and the atmos- 

 jJiere loaded with clouds. The light of the sun 

 appears to be one of the causes which acts most 

 powerfully upon the expansion of flowers. Its 

 absence produces a kind of sleep in flowers, as 

 it does in the leaves of the family of Leguminosas. 

 By very ingenious experiments, Bory de St 

 Vincent succeeded in causing to flower certain 

 sp ecies of oxalis, the flowers of which never ex- 

 panded naturally, by illuminating them strongly 

 at night, and collecting upon them the rays of 

 light by means of a lens. 



The duration of flowers also exhibits some 

 very remarkable differences. Some expand in 

 the morning, and are withered before the end of 

 the day. Such flowers are called ephemeral. Of 

 this kind are the most of the species of Cistus, 

 Tradescantia inrginica, some species of Cactus, 

 &c. Others, on the contrary, retain their splen- 

 dour unimpaired for several days, often even for 

 several weeks. Lastly, there are flowers whose 

 colour varies at the different periods of their 

 development. Thus the Hortensia begins with 

 having green flowers. By degrees they assume 

 a beautiful rose-colour, which, before tliey are 

 entirelyfadedjbecoraesof a more or less deep blue. 

 Nectaries. By the general name of Nectaries 

 I.innseus designated not only the glandular 

 bodies which are observed in certain flowers, and 

 which secrete a sweet or nectaremis fluid, but 

 also all the parts of the flower which, present- 

 ing irregular and unusual forms, appeared to 

 l)im not to belong to the floral organs properly 

 BO called, that is, to the pistil, stamina, or floral 

 envelopes. It may easily be conceived, that the 

 great extension given by Linnseus to the term 

 nectary could not but render it extremely vague. 

 Indeed it is almost impossible to give a strict 

 definition of it, as employed by him. A few 

 examples will show the truth of our assertion. 



Whenever one of the constituent organs of 

 the flower presented some irregularity in its 

 form or development, or some alteration of its 

 MBUtA aspect, LinnffiUB called it a nectary. It 

 will readily be imagined that, in tliis manner, 

 he must have confounded a multitude of organs 

 very different from each other. Thus, in the 

 columbine, Linnteus describes five nectaries in 

 the form of recurved spurs, hanging between the 

 five sepals. In the larkspur there are two which 

 are prolonged into a point at their hind part, and 

 are contained in the spur which is observed at 



the base of the upper sepal. In the helleboies 

 we find a great number of nectaries, which are 

 tubular and two lipped. Now, these alleged 

 nectaries of the hellebores, columbines, and in 

 general of all the other genera of the family of 

 ranunculacese, are nothing but the petals. In 

 the tropceolum, the nectary is a spur which 

 arises from the base of the calyx. In the toad- 

 flax, this nectary or spur is a prolongation of 

 the base of the corolla. This is also the case in 

 the violet, and balsamine. 



Linnffius also gave the name of nectaries to 

 masses of glands placed in different part* of the 

 flower. Accordingly, he confounded the disks 

 under that name ; as in the cruciferce, umbelli- 

 fera, and rosacea. In the lily, the nectary has 

 the form of a glandular groove placed at the in- 

 ternal base of the divisions of the calyx. In the 

 genus iris, it is a tuft of glandular hairs, placed 

 on the middle of the outer divisions of the calyx. 

 In the grasses, the nectary is composed of two 

 small scales, varying greatly in form, and situ- 

 ated on one side of the base of the ovary. These 

 two scales or paleols: form the glumella, an organ 

 which performs no secretion. In the orchidejB, 

 the nectary is the lower and inner divisions of 

 the calyx, which other botanists, and Linnteus 

 himself, have designated as the lip. If it be 

 necessary to retain the term nectary, it should 

 be exclusively applied to the little masses of 

 glands situated on different parts of the plants, 

 and destined to secrete a sweet juice, care being 

 at the same time taken not to confound these 

 l)odies with the diff'erent kinds of disk, which 

 are never secreting organs. By this means the 

 uncertainty and confusion which the term carries 

 with it might be avoided, and it would be re- 

 stored to its true signification. 



CHAP. XIV. 



CUYPTOGAMIC FRUCTIFICATION. 



II A VINO described the floral oi-gans of the moi-e 

 perfect plants, we now proceed to exhibit a view 

 of the corresponding organs in the cryptogamic 

 families, in which we shall find the parts much 

 less complete, and in some cases, almost in- 

 visible. 



Ferns. As this class of vegetables are desti- 

 tute of conspicuous flowers, so they were at one 

 time thought to be destitute also of seeds, and 

 propagated nobody coidd tell how. Hence the 

 common opinion so prevalent in ancient times, 

 as to the nonentity of fern seed ; an opinion 

 that is scarcely even in the present day exploded 

 among the vulgar, though shown by botanists to 

 be entirely erroneous : the fruit or seed of ferns 

 being not only visible to the naked eye, at least 



