COLORS AND FRAGRANCE OF FLOWERS. 85 



opened on the. groundwork of the ripely developed 

 foliage. The Canadian rhodora and the procumbent 

 azalea, which are crimson, bear their flowers before the 

 leaves, while the white azalea appears only after the full 

 maturity of its foliage. 



Most of the water-lilies are white: but white, if it 

 were planted upon the pure glassy surface of the water, 

 would not be very discernible, as the water which in 

 one position is blue, in another is white. But the 

 white water-lilies are always expanded on a smooth 

 green carpet formed by their broad flat foliage, so that 

 the white flowers are contrasted with the verdure of this 

 surface of leaves, and not with the white or blue surface 

 of the water. The saracenia, on the contrary, that sus- 

 pends its nodding flowers over the shallow waters of the 

 lake shore, reflecting sometimes the blue of the sky, 

 and sometimes the whiteness of the clouds, is made 

 conspicuous by the sobriety of its colors. Its dark 

 chocolate and purple hues render it discernible at a 

 great distance, rising out of the shallow and reedy 

 waters. 



There are other colors of vegetation, besides those of 

 the flowers, for which a reason and a purpose are not 

 so easily assigned. The purpose served by the green- 

 ness of the foliage of all or nearly all plants may not 

 be a single one. It seems to me not improbable that 

 nature has selected it as a groundwork upon which the 

 flowers are rendered more conspicuous than they could 

 be rendered by any other color. Of this fact the 

 makers of bouquets are fully aware. A few flowers, 

 placed on a background of green foliage, make a better 

 show than a whole bunch of the brightest flowers with- 

 out any such opposition. No other color can be 

 selected that could so well answer this purpose. 



