CALYX. 
59 
poses as the fur, hair, and bristles of animals, viz,, 
l;o defend the plants from cold, and injuries from 
other causes. 
h. Bracts are rudimentary dwarfed leaves, some- 
times mere scales, at others differing little from 
the ordinary leaf except in the smaller size. It is 
sometimes difficult to decide whether bracts should 
be ranked with the foliage, or as parts of the flower. 
Bracts may be situated along the peduncle or at 
its base. 
At Fig. 68, the real leaves are shown at h h, and the bract at a ; 
the former being cordate and crenate, the latter lanceolate and en- 
tire. 
In some plants, as in several species of sage, the transition from 
leaves to bracts is so gradual, as to render it difficult to distinguish between them, 
and a considerable part of the foliage is composed of the bracts. In the crown- 
imperial, the stem is terminated by a number of large and conspicuous bracts. 
Tiiese appendages are sometimes mistaken for the calyx. Bracts are gr€e7i or color- 
ed, deciduous or persistent. The orchis tribe have green leaf-bracts. No plants ot 
fhe class Tetradynamia have bracts. 
LECTUKE XI. 
CALYX. 
65. We have considered the organs of nutation and vegeta- 
tion; these have been called the fundamental organs of plants, 
because they are mere modiflcations or transformations of them. 
We are now to examine more fully than we have done the re- 
productive 0Tg(m8^ called organs of fructification, 
a. Their names were considered when commencing the analysis of flowers ; but 
we are now to examine them with more minute attention, and to remark upon 
their different uses in the vegetable economy. We have arrived at that part of 
the plant, which is the ornament of the vegetable kingdom. Flowers are delight- 
ful to every lover of nature ; a bouquet, or even the simplest blossom, presented 
by a friend, interests the heart. How many pleasant thoughts are awakened by 
the fresh and perfumed incense which ascends from flowers ! What woman does 
not love flowers ! yet many regard them merely as beautiful objects, without being 
aware that they might be rendered far more interesting by a scientific knowledge 
of the relations and uses of their various parts. Many spend years in cultivating 
plants ignorant of their botanical characters, when even a few hours' study might 
unfold the beautiful arrangement of botanical science, and open to the mental 
vision a world of wonders. 
Although every part of a plant offers an interesting subject for study, the beauty 
of the blossom seems by association to highten the pleasure of scientific researcli. 
Flowers are indeed lovely, but like youth and beauty they are fading and tran- 
sient ; they are, however, destined for a higher object than a short-lived admira- 
tion ; for to them is assigned the important office of producing and nourishing the 
,\. Bracts— Difference between the real leaf and the bract. — 65. Second di>ision of vegetable organs^ 
c. Reflections 
