THE FIRST DAFFODIL. 85 



You see, the flower consists of a single amalgamated 

 tube, with six lobes or points, and in between them, 

 projecting from its centre, is a large circular crown, 

 broadly tubular in shape, and brightly yellow, like 

 the rest of the blossom, in colour. It is well to begin 

 at the beginning ; and so we may first ask why it is 

 six-lobed ? The answer is, because it is one of the 

 monocotyledonous plants. That is a very long and 

 technical word I am half afraid our English-speak- 

 ing editor will cut it ruthlessly out and, indeed, I 

 wish it were shorter and simpler; but at present, 

 unhappily, I know of no other that will efficiently 

 supply its place. Let me try to explain it. Many 

 years ago, when flowering plants first appeared upon 

 the earth, they began to diverge into two principal 

 divisions, from one or other of which all our existing 

 flowering kinds (except only the cone-bearing pine 

 family) are ultimately descended. One of these primi- 

 tive groups had two seed-leaves in each seed, the 

 other had one. There are a great many other differ- 

 ences between the two tribes, but these are the most 

 constant ; and it is to the last tribe that the daffodil 

 belongs. Now, so far as the flower is concerned (and 

 it is with that part of the plant alone that I am going 

 to deal to-day), the widest original difference between 

 the two great divisions was this the plants with two 

 seed-leaves had their parts arranged in whorls of five, 

 while the plants with one seed-leaf had them arranged 

 in whorls of three. Thus the typical flower of the 

 first class has five sepals, five petals, five stamens, and 



