THE STECCTUEE OF FLOWERS. 4i^ 



they maintain it in its position in the ground, and en- 

 able it to withstand the storm and tempest. The suc- 

 cessive and regular development of these parts, sea- 

 son after season, constitutes the growth of the plant ; 

 and their unceasing self-employment in various vital 

 processes, gives us those hugh masses of woody fibre 

 that constitute timber ; the innumerable secretions 

 that we extract from plants, in the form of oils, sugar, 

 starch, and so forth ; those, also, that render the 

 bark and the leaves of different species valuable, eith- 

 er to the physician, when he would prescribe medi- 

 cine, or to the dyer, when he would give color to the 

 products of the loom. The functions of these parts 

 — the root, stem, and leaves - — are thus purely of a 

 local or personal kind ; they have no direct relation 

 to the perpetuating of the plant, and hence they are 

 distinguished by botanists under the name of " nutri- 

 tive." Very different are the functions and the pur- 

 poses of the flower. Here, instead of the aim and ex- 

 penditure being concentrated to the well-being of the 

 ■ individual, the design has reference to the race. The 

 flower is produced, in other words, not so much for 

 the good of the plant which it so much ornaments, as 

 for the sake of the species ; and thus, derivatively, 

 for the beauty and verdure of the earth. Hence the 

 parts of which it is composed are technically distin- 

 guished as "reproductive." All plants die some 

 time. Every living thing has its lease of existence. 

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