STRUCTURE AND SIZE OF FLOWERS. 167 



sible how much care has been bestowed upon 

 them. 



The flower of that beautiful annual, the sweet- 

 pea, so common in our gardens, is very remark- 

 able, and resembles in some degree a butterfly. 

 This delightful flower has four petals, as the 

 coloured flower-leaves are called. The lowest 

 of these, which is named the keel, encloses the 

 seed-vessels, and over these are stretched two 

 others, in the shape of a sloping roof, called the 

 wings, whilst towering over all is a broad petal, 

 termed the standard, or banner, which serves as a 

 sort of vane, and as the whole flower is placed 

 upon a slender pedicle, or flower-stalk, it is thus 

 enabled to turn away from the wind whichever 

 way it may blow. We should all examine this 

 flower, as its parts are very distinct, and we are sure 

 to learn something from it. 



Flowers are found of all shapes and sizes. Some 

 are so small as hardly to be visible to the naked 

 eye ; others grow to an immense size, as the 

 krubul, which is found in some hot countries. 

 This is the largest flower at present known, and 

 measures a full yard across: each of its petals are 

 a foot long, and the nectarium, or honey-vessel, is 

 large enough to hold three quarts. A specimen 

 of a nectarium may be seen in the columbine. In 

 this flower it has the form of a curved horn or 

 spur. 



The odour or smell of flowers is in general ex- 

 ceedingly grateful. That of the hawthorn, which 



