Wild Flowers as They Grow 



form standing within, again in alternating rings; 

 and in the centre of all a considerable number of 

 minute parts, each of which represents a seed-case 

 with one seed and the usual receptive surface for 

 fertilisation purposes. Even the honey is stored 

 away in five little sacs arranged most methodically 

 one on each petal, and carefully covered by a scale. 

 If the petals be pulled off a flower, these honey 

 sacs can be distinctly seen at their base as small 

 heart-shaped structures. 



But in one particular the" Buttercup can lay 

 claim to a special touch of brilliancy in a literal 

 sense. Usually, the coloured petals of a flower, 

 however gay their colour, have a " dead " surface, 

 but in the Buttercup the petals are not merely gold, 

 they are burnished gold, and glint in the sun's rays. 



" The rich buttercup. 

 Its tiny polished urn holds up 

 Filled with ripe summer to the brim," 



says J. R. Lowell. That this sheen is a device of 

 the plant to enhance its attractiveness is obvious, 



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