A PLANT MORPHOLOGICALLY CONSIDERED. 253 (fl- 
Violets, Pinks, &c. The Erica, or any very light foliage, is indispensable," We shall only add that 
nothing can be more graceful or appropriate than one or two spikes of Hordeum Zeocriton, H. hexa- 
stichon, Triticum monococcurn, and other ornamental grains They are used dry for this purpose, and 
decorated by means of gum with gold or silver in leaf. Ladies make elegant bouquets of these cereals, 
which last throughout the winter. Cereals for head-dresses should be sown in spring, and the golden- 
yellow spikes, when matured, have a charming effect among the flowers which have been already named. 
In winter the forced flowers of Pyrus japonica, as well as the Coelestina, will be found very serviceable. 
3. Coiffure a la Pomone (Head-dress of Fruit). — This form is chiefly suitable for those who have a 
large and robust figure, and a healthy high-coloured complexion. The crown is large, formed of fruits 
and leaves of the most select sorts. The top of the corset is also furnished with a garland formed in a 
similar manner. This style of ornament has many resources, which are much ignored by artistes. The 
pretty red berries of Ardisia crenulata have a fine effect, resembling bunches of coral beads, and which 
may be obtained during the whole winter in our stoves. The short-fruited spikes of Chamoerops 
humilis arc equally desirable, and may be as readily obtained. Many of the Common Thorn or Crataegus, 
also furnish abundant resources. The white berries of the Mistletoe (Viscum album) with their leathery 
leaves, which do not soon fade, are excellent for this purpose, as well as the pearly berries of Rhipsalis. 
Besides many varieties of natural fruits, imitations in glass, especially small bunches of Grapes, are 
very effective. 
♦ 
A PLANT MOEPHOLOGICALLT CONSIDERED.* 
Bv the Eev. Dr. M'COSH, of Brechin. 
Kl CCORDIXG to the common idea, a Plant is composed of two essentially distinct parts, the stem 
LvX and the leaf. The axis of the embryo proceeds downward and upward simultaneously, the 
descending axis being the root, and the ascending one the stem or trunk. Upon these axes others are 
formed as subterranean or aerial branches. The leaf is formed upon the ascending axis, and besides 
its common form, it assumes, while obeying the same fundamental laws, certain other forms, as in the 
sepals, the petals, the stamens and pistils. This makes a plant a dual, or composed of two essentially 
different parts. But to us it appears possible to reduce a plant by a more enlarged conception of its 
nature to an unity. According to our idea, it consists essentially of a stem sending out other stems 
similar to itself at certain angles, and in such a regular manner, that the whole is made to take a pre- 
determined form. The ascending axis, for instance, sends out at particular normal angles in each tree, 
branches similar in structure to itself. These lateral branches again send out branchlets of a like nature 
with themselves, and at much the same angles. The whole tree with its branches thus comes to he 
of the same general form as ever}' individual branch, and every branch with its branchlets comes to be 
a tj*pe of the whole plant in its skeleton and outline. 
Taking this idea of a plant along with us, let us now enquire whether there may not be a morpho- 
logical analogy between the stems and the ribs or veins of the leaf. As these veins are vascular 
bundles, proceeding from the fibre-vascular bundles of the stem, they may be found to obey the same 
hi ws. Physiological confirmations of this presumption may be found in the following circumstances : — 
(1.) Both stem and vein are capable of becoming a spine, the stem as in the Thorn, the vein as in the 
Thistle. (2.) It is also an unsettled question whether the inflorescence and seed vessels in many cases 
arc formed out of metamorphosed leaves or metamorphosed branches. The very fact that there is such 
a dispute shows that there is an analogy between leaf and branch. (3.) The vein of the leaf is capable 
equally with the stem of producing a leaf bud, as in Bryophyllum and Gloxinia. 
We begin with the examination of those plants which have a fully veined or reticulated leaf, and 
here we shall find a morphological analogy between the leaf and the branch, and the leaf and the 
whole plant. It should be noticed that this resemblance can bo observed only when both the stems 
and the veins arc fully and fairly developed. Let us first inspect in a general way the leaf of a trie 
with its central vein or veins, and its side veins. Even on the most careless inspection, the centra] 
vein will be found to bear a striking analogy to the central stem or axis of the tree, and the side veins 
to the branches. Let us then look at the tree when stript of its leaves in winter, and we shall sec how- 
like it is in its contour and skeleton to the contour and skeleton of a leaf. We shall be particularly 
struck with this if we view it in the dim twilight or the " pale moonlight" between us and a clear sky. 
In both leaf and tree wo see a central stem or stems witli ramified appendages going off at certain 
angles, and we may observe that the tree in its outline tends to assume the form of a leaf. 
The general impression produced by a first glance will be confirmed on farther inspection. The 
• Read t" tlu- Botiuucal Society of Edinburgh, loth July, 1851. 
I ff"* ^ M 
