40 PLANTS: THEIR NATURAL GROWTH 



may from the boisterous winds that sweep over it, by its lowly growth, the plant being found in little 

 clumps, and rearing its delicate blossoms some four or five inches only above the surface of the 

 ground. Each flower-stalk, as in the Daisy, springs directly from the root and bears but a single 

 blossom on its summit ; the growth of the leaves is similar, they are not thrown off from branches, 

 as in the Buttercup, but, Primrose or Dandelion-like, radiate from the root. Throughout our 

 descriptions it will, we trust, be understood that our desire is to give, as far as possible, the effect 

 of the plant as it would strike an ornamentist, the minutlse of a more rigid botanical analysis being 

 foreign to our present aim ; thus, though in the Primrose, for example, the leaves and flower do 

 really spring from a very short central stem, yet as this stem is hidden by the bases of the leaves, 

 and is only apparent on close observation, we speak here j-ather of the effect of the plant as it 

 strikes an ornamentist, and, while inaccurate in a strictly scientific sense, best convey to a designer 

 an idea of the plant by speaking of the leaves as radiating from the root. The Hepatica is 

 subject to a considerable variation of form, thus, though fig. 197 gives us the normal form of the 

 foliage, it is not uncommon to find some leaves with five lobes, as shewn in fig. 200, in the same 

 way that the Ivy, in the midst of a mass of five-lobed leaves, occasionally develops a few with 

 seven. A similar variation is frequently seen in the petals, for, though by far the greater 

 number of the flowers have six of these, it is not unusual to come across examples, as in fig. 203, 

 where those parts are eight in number. In many plants an increase of the parts is only a blemish, 

 as the additional members are frequently distorted or dwarfed, and thus the symmetry of the 

 whole is destroyed ; but this seems rarely to be the case in the Hepatica, and the abnormal eight- 

 petaled flower is as beautiful in itself as the ordinary form of blossom, as suitable, therefore, for 

 introduction in any design ; though, if Nature be but slightly conventionalised, it must be borne in 

 mind that such forms must be exceptional, and only introduced for the sake of that variation 

 that is as valuable a quality in ornamental art as in Nature. The curious form of the leaves 

 before their full expansion, as shewn in fig. 202, is a point not without suggestiveness to the 

 designer; while thje fruit form, fig. 204, that succeeds the blossoms, is an equally ornamental 

 feature. 



Variation in the details of a design is a very legitimate means of imparting enhanced 

 interest to any work. It is much more characteristic, however, of some periods of art than others ; 

 thus, in a Greek temple every Corinthian capital is an exact fac-simile of every other throughout 

 the building ; and the triglyphs that may be seen running round a classic building are, be they 

 many or few in number, an exact repetition of one form. In some styles of ornament (as, for 

 instance, Chinese) the opposite is seen ; and while there is great risk of monotony in constant 

 repetition, the other extreme is equally to be deprecated, all harmony and unity of design being 

 destroyed by a too persistent variation^ The ancient Egyptians, with that fine instinct that charac- 

 terises so much of their work, avoided either extreme, and preserved similitude in dissimilitude, 

 preserving unity as an effect in the whole mass, yet with constant variety in the details; the 

 columns of a temple for instance, not being all alike, though similar in general proportion : thus, 

 the two columns immediately flanking the entrance are found to be similar, the next to these on 

 either hand being of a different design to the first, but similar in themselves ; number three on 

 each side being like each other, but unlike numbers one or two ; and so on throughout the series. 

 The same thing is noticeable in a great deal of the best Gothic work, both English and conti- 

 nental ; a due balance and symmetry of the masses of the composition, with continuous variation 

 of the details when examined more closely. Though the quotations with which we have headed 

 our remarks on each plate have ordinarily been selected for their own inherent interest, rather than 

 from any especial appropriateness to the subject-matter with which they chance to be associated, 

 the present extracts from Pope and Wordsworth have an especial fitness for their place, expressing 

 so clearly, as they do, the limit which may be safely reached in the use of this art-principle of 

 variation, and the ideal attained, " where order in variety we see, and where, though all things 

 differ, all agree." 



In the three designs we have based on the Hepatica, the first (fig. 205) is bi-symmetrical, 

 and is intended as a suggestion for relief work, the remaining two being for surface decoration.' 

 In fig. 206 we have continuous repetition in the form, with variation in the colour, while in the 

 last example (fig. 207) the alternation is seen both in form and in colour. 



