[HAT every plant should select only its 

 own colors and forms from the great 

 laboratory of Nature has always seemed 

 to me a very wonderful thing. Each 

 plant takes from its surroundings just 

 those qualities which will produce its own especial 

 characteristics and no others, never hesitating and 

 never making a mistake. For instance, the Califor- 

 nia Poppies, if left to themselves, will take yellow of 

 many resplendent shades for their color, and never 

 vary their cool, gray-green, red-tipped foliage ; the 

 Peacock Poppy will be always scarlet- crimson, 

 with a black spot rimmed with white in every 

 petal ; the Corn Poppy will be always clear scar- 

 let ; the Bride a miracle of lustrous white, and 

 so on. Runge, a noted chemist, says : " A plant 

 is a great chemist : it distinguishes and separates 

 substances more definitely and accurately than 

 man can, with all his skill, his intelligence, and 

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