PLANTS. 
35 
of grasses ; and, if at liberty to range and choose, 
leave untouched the straws which support the 
flowers. 
In the deserts of America, we meet with a plant 
growing, like the misleto, on the tops of the trees, 
and having its leaves turned at the base into the 
shape of a pitcher, with the extremity expanded : 
in these the rain is collected and preserved, for the 
benefit of birds and other animals. Again, the 
water-tree in Ceylon produces cylindrical bladders, 
covered with a lid ; into these is secreted a most 
pure and refreshing water. There is likewise a 
kind of cuckoo-pint in New France, which, when 
broken, will afford a pint of excellent water. Thus 
has Nature been careful to accommodate the produc- 
tions of every country to its inhabitants, and to pro- 
duce subjects of admiration which cannot fail to 
raise our ideas towards the Creator of all things. 
We shall conclude this Introduction with a de- 
scription of those parts of a plant which are the 
very essence of its being — the flower and the fruit. 
Upon these Linnaeus has founded his generic cha- 
racters ; and they generally consist of the calyx , the 
corolla , the stamina , the pistillum , the pericarp ium, 
the semina, and the receptaculum. The first four of 
these parts belong to the flower ; the last three to 
the fruit. 
The calyx, or cup, is the termination of the outer 
bark of the plant, and is formed, in general, of differ- 
ent segments. It supports and protects the other 
