40 FLOWER-LAND. 



better in a larger flower, like that of the sweet pea ; 

 but all flowers with corollas of this shape have been 

 fancied to be like butterflies (cf. Fig. 30 a, and 15 b). 

 So the plants which bear them are all put together in 

 one natural order the natural order of the butterfly 

 plants. 



It is worth while to take one of these flowers and 

 pull off the standard and the wings, then open 

 the keel, and inside it you will find the stamens^ ten of 

 them, nine joined together and one free (Fig. 15 c). 

 I should tell you that in some plants of this order the 

 stamens are all joined together, and in some few the 

 petals of the keel are not joined at all. 



A common plant that belongs to the butterfly plants 

 is the clover. We will gather one or two of the flowers 

 when we see them either white or red clover will 

 do and notice how the standard in these flowers is 

 bent forward on each side, instead of being spread 

 open. But these corollas of the clover are small. If 

 we could find any of the prickly gorse or furze, we 

 should see a better example of the butterfly corolla. 

 Its yellow flowers are large and handsome. 



One of the greatest botanists, named Linnaeus, a 

 Swede, when he was on a visit to England, and saw a 

 quantity of it in flower as he was crossing Putney 

 -Heath, fell on his knees and thanked God for making 

 anything so beautiful. 



