The Japan Quince. 15 



fairest of the fair, must be beautiful indeed ! It is this we have 

 chosen for illustration — The Rosa Muscosa or Moss Rose. It is 

 generally in our day ranked among the Centifolias, but Lin- 

 naeus considered it only a variety of the Provence. Its specific 

 characters are — Germs, ovate (egg-shaped) ; Calyx, peduncles 

 (flower-stems), Petiole (leaf-stalk), and branches, hispid, glandu- 

 lar-viscid (moss-like) ; spines of the branches scattered, straight 

 These hair-like appendages contain a resinous and fragrant fluid. 

 As we have considered the Rose somewhat in detail, it will not 

 be necessary to review. Plants have attached to them factories, 

 called glands, for making various products. As the liver in our 

 bodies secretes bile from the blood, so from the sap do they com- 

 bine the various elements into gums, resins, oils, honey, &c. A 

 principal gland in flowers is the nectary, commonly called the 

 honey cup. It varies in different flowers in shape, size, and 

 structure ; in the Larkspur and Violet it is formed by the pro- 

 longation of the corolla into a horn or spear ; in the Nasturtium 

 by a prolongation of the colored calyx ; it is a small pit in the 

 Crowfoot ; and in the Grass of Parnassus, consists of little globular 

 bodies, each attached to the end of a short filament, and inter- 

 spersed among the stamens. In respect to its use, Dr. Snell 

 says, there can be no doubt that the sole use of the honey, with 

 respect to the plant, is to tempt insects, who, in procuring it, fer- 

 tilize the flower, by disturbing the dust of the stamen, and even 

 carry that substance from the barren to the fertile blossom. Every 

 one is familiar with the German story of the angel of flowers 

 clothing the rose with moss, and so much has been written on 

 it, that we will merely mention its emblem — Superior merit, or 

 as some name it in reference to its want of thorns, Pleasure with- 

 out alloy. 



The Japan Quince. 



This plant is generally trained on a soulhside wall, to protect 

 it from the cold and ensure it as much heat as possible. Its 

 flowers of scarlet, pink, and white, make a beautiful ornament; 

 they have a strange and peculiar lustre. It is cultivated to a 



