OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



301 



flowers are turned towards him, 10; 



10 11 12 



827. 



when he passes the meridian, they 

 look up, 11 ; and 

 when he sinks 

 in the west, they 

 turn to receive his 

 last rays, 12. 

 Some flowers, as 

 the convolvulus, 

 13, open to the 

 sun, and when 

 he withdraws, 

 they close their 

 petals, and fold 

 the warmth they have received 

 in their bosoms, 14. 



Whatever may be the form of 

 a plant, we may recognise a 

 similar care for the welfare of its 

 vital parts. 



The meadow 

 saffron, 15, rises 

 out of the ground 

 in an apparently 

 forlorn condition, 

 without a sheath, 

 fence, calyx, or 

 even a leaf to 

 protect it ; and 

 that, not in the 

 spring, not to be 

 visited by summer 

 suns, but under 

 all the disadvan- 

 tages of the de- 

 clining year. In 

 this case, the seed 



vessel, which in other plants is 

 situated within the cup of the 

 flower, or just beneath it, lies 

 buried ten or twelve inches under 

 ground, within the bulbous root, 15. 

 Thus, as this plant blossoms late in 

 the year, and probably would not 

 have time to ripen its seeds before 

 the advance of winter, which 

 would destroy them, Providence 

 has contrived its structure such, 

 that this important office may be 

 performed at a depth in the earth 

 out of reach of the usual effects 

 of frost.* 



We will now turn to the 

 general characters of some of the 

 flowering trees and shrubs that 

 weave their beautiful garlands 

 around our dwellings. We shall 

 discover an endless variety in 

 their forms, colours, and what 

 may be termed their aspects of 

 expression. 



Heliotropes take their name 

 from the fact that they were said 

 to turn to the sun. They flower 

 in the various forms of racemes, 

 panicles, umbels, stipes, &c, and in 

 some kinds l 

 the spikes 

 grow in 

 pairs, 1 . 

 Their flow- 

 ers are ei- 

 ther white, 

 lilac, or blue; 

 and some of 

 them are re- 

 markable for emitting a perfume 

 resembling that of new-made 

 hay. 



The primrose, 2, may be re- 

 garded equally as a garden and 

 a wild flower ; indeed it is a 



» Paley's Natural Theology; Withering'? Botany. 



830. 



