06 
METAMORPHOSIS OF OEGANS OF PLANTS. 
108. Each bud is a distinct individual, capable of an inde 
pendent existence, as may be seen in the case of ingrafting 
layers, &c. ; but, remaining on the parent stem, buds become 
branches^ each of which may produce buds and hranclilets. A 
perfect plant may be considered as a comjpound individual 
formed of as many units as there are buds, and as many buds 
as there are branches and leaves. In the process of its growth, 
the plant continues to enlarge, and the leaves attain their high- 
est degree of perfection. The growing point now ceases to 
lengthen in the direction of the axis, slender branches are 
thrown out, and there is often, in these branches, a diminution 
in the size of the leaves, w^hich expand in crowded or concen- 
tric verticils, or whorls. A new development now appears, and 
instead of a leafy branch we see ^flower. This transformation 
usually takes place gradually, each successive cauline leaf grad- 
ually contracts its circumference, loses its numerous lobes and 
incisions, and exj)ands more or less near the stem ; thus are 
formed those transition leaves called hracts. These sometimes 
resemble cauline leaves, but in some cases assimie the hue and 
texture of flowers. Sometimes the flowering process is rapid ; 
the stem sends forth a slender elongated shoot from the node 
which corresponds to the last leaf, and forms a wliorl^ by crowd- 
ing several partial nodes into a ring at the extremities of the 
shoot ; thus a verticil, or collection of leaves, appears as sepals 
or parts of the calyx. 
109. K. flower is a transformed hrancli^ all its organs "being 
leaves which have undergone a peculiar metamorphosis. The 
development of flowers near the bracts is the cause of the 
leaves from which they are transformed becoming checked and 
diminished in their growth ; and if such be the nature of bracts, 
it follows that all their modifications, such as the spatha, invo- 
lucre, and the cup of the acorn, are imperfect leaves. In the 
Camellia japonica the bracts and sepals are so similar that they 
are scarcely distinguishable. The Strawberry has five little 
bracts alternating with the five sepals, and closely resembling 
them. In the Mallow tribe there is a whorl of bracts at the 
base of the calyx closely resembling sepals ; these are usually 
said to have a double calyx. From sepals to pel^als the tran- 
sition is easy. The calyx, though usually green, and leaf- 
Mke, is often colored, and delicate in texture. The Fuchsia, 
or Eardrop, has a colored calyx which would be considered 
a corolla but for the inner covering which infolds its sta- 
mens. In the lily and tulip the floral envelope is often 
gi'een on the outside and richly colored within, and without 
terming it either calyx or corolla, we call it ^perianth. Such 
I J8. Process of development.— 109. Flower a transformed branch— Transformation of floral organs 
