8 
filaments all united, and numerous styles all rising from 
a large round flat germ, which becomes something like a 
button, consisting of a great number of flat, wedge like 
seeds, which fit closely together and form a circle. That 
in the plate is double and therefore does not show the 
stamens. The remainder of the plants in this picture 
almost seem to contradict what has been said of every 
flower having stamens and pistils, but looking closely at 
them, it will be found that these are really clusters of 
tiny flowers or florets, all within one case. This race is 
called COMPOUND FLOWERS, and to it belong the 
DAISY, DANDELION, THISTLE and many others of our 
most common plants. The whole of the florets are fas¬ 
tened within the common involucre or case of leaves, 
to a flat receptacle, and they possess a tiny five-cleft 
corolla, a long slender style, a horned stigma, five stamens, 
and a cottony calyx, scarcely developed, until the flower 
is out of blossom, when it generally becomes a delicate 
feathery white wing to bear away the seed, upon the 
wind. This is what becomes thistle down, the soft cottony 
seed of groundsel, or forms the beautiful white globe 
which children call a ‘dandelion clock’ or in the HAWK- 
WEED. This feathery parachute is in a sucession of stars, 
like magnified snow flakes. The thistle and dandelion 
have all their florets alike and equal, but most compound 
flowers have merely those in the centre, or eye, perfect, 
while those outside have no stamens, and only one petal 
which grows to a great length and forms the ray of the 
flower. It is the protection of the perfect florets within, 
as you may remember, that a daisy opens the yellow 
centre only by day; in early morning or late evening the 
pink and white ray is carefully closed over it. The rayed 
compound Flowers have in general a great love for the 
sun, and seldom open but when he shines upon them. Some 
actually follow him throughout his daily course, turn their 
heads to the east to greet his rising, watch him to the 
south at noon day, bend their face to the west as he 
sinks, close themselves and droop at night, but waken 
with their golden eye towards him in the morning. 
In Peru, where the ancient inhabitants worshipped the s un, 
these, his faithful followers were regarded with great 
honour, and were used to adorn his temples. Two of 
the compound flowers here figured are Peruvian, and 
the chief of all is the great SUN FLOWER (d) which 
almost looks as if constant gazing had transformed it 
into the likeness of the sun itself, with that golden 
face and brilliant ray. It is a very large and handsome 
plant; but the stems and leaves are rather coarse, and it is 
not often seen except in cottage gardens. The large grey 
seeds have no wing, they are full of oil, and are some¬ 
times used for feeding poultry. The Flower is still in 
favour as an emblem of the Christian faith ever looking 
towards Heaven. What we call the FRENCH MARY GOLD 
(c) is also Peruvian; the central florets are well developed, 
and the strap-shaped ones, very handsomely marked with 
orange and deep brown red, but the smell is very unplea¬ 
sant. The DAHLIA ( ci ), in the plate is doubled, by the 
strap shaped florets of the ray having been multiplied to 
the destruction of the great yellow eye of perfect florets 
which is found in single Dahlias. This handsome plant 
was brought from Mexico, and named after the German 
Professor Dahl. The ray has not only been multiplied 
by cultivation, but taught to take all manner of beautiful 
colours, orange, puce, purple, yellow, white, or white with 
each petal dashed or edged with some darker colour. Each 
variety has a name, and they are great favorites with 
flower fanciers while the large size, and the firm texture of 
the flower makes it very useful in forming mottoes or or¬ 
naments, upon great occasions. Dahlias seem unwelcome 
as the first signs of autumn, and yet they are kind in 
forgetting that this is not warm Mexico, and giving us 
their handsome blossoms even till the frost and wet has 
made their shining scaly involucre one sodden yellow 
mass, and blackened every young petal. 
The CHINA ASTER (e) is the Chinese brother of a large hand¬ 
some family of ASTERS or STARS, of which we have one 
wild friend, the lilac-rayed, yellow-eyed sea star-wort. 
The Michaelmas Daisy is another of the family, and there 
are many others, of which the larg’est and handsomest is 
the Chinese, often doubled, and brought to various bril¬ 
liant shades of purple and pink. 
PLATE V. WINTER-FLOWERS. 
In winter we are grateful to any blossoms that will shew a 
cheerful face in the time of snow and frost, and thus we 
greet as friends, three plants which if they blew in any 
month but January would be looked upon as of the race 
of poisonous plants, instead of as Christmas flowers. THE 
BLACK (a) YELLOW (d) and GREEN (e) HELLEBORE 
are all five petalled, many stamened flowers, with cree¬ 
ping roots, which grow high on the Alps and Appenines 
and thus are used to cold weather. They are highly poi¬ 
sonous, but can be made useful for medicine. The Black 
hellebore has however the much prettier name of the 
CHRISTMAS ROSE, in honour of the white flowers, tou¬ 
ched with red, which deepens as the blossom grows older. 
The Yellow has a pretty calyx, divided like wings, and a 
bright cheerful polished flower, shinning like a butter cup 
with the peculiar polish that many of the ranunculus 
tribe have. The common name is the YELLOW ACONITE. 
The Green hellebore or BEARS FOOT is sometimes found 
wild in England, it is a handsome plant, with green flo¬ 
wers tipped with purple, but it has a very unpleasant 
smell and is chiefly valued by old fashioned herbalists, 
who use the hedges as their medicine chest. 
There is a shrub which enlivens the garden with white blos¬ 
soms, and rose coloured buds, upon red stems. This is the 
LAURUSTINUS ( b) a native of southern Europe and nor¬ 
thern Africa, yet not afraid to face the cold of an English 
winter. It belongs to the same genus as our native 
GUELDER ROSE, and wayfaring tree, namely the VIBUR¬ 
NUM. These are shrubs, with leaves in pairs opposite to 
each other, the blossoms growing in what are called corymbs. 
These are clusters of small branches, such as bring the flo¬ 
wers close together in a spreading, flat head. The corolla 
is in one five-cleft petal, the calyx very small, the stamens 
five, the pistils three, producing a berry. This in the Lau- 
rustinus is deep purple and serves the birds for food in 
early summer, before other berries are ripe. 
PLATE VI. KITCHEN VEGETABLES. 
Most children begin by thinking that flowers are not vegeta¬ 
bles, and that vegetables are not flowers, but only those 
leaves, roots or fruits which we eat with our meat. But 
we have found that both alike belong to the vegetable 
world, and if the gardener lets his plants run to seed, you 
can soon be convinced that the kitchen garden contains 
flowers, almost as pretty as if they were grown for orna¬ 
ment. We of the human kind, are the only creatures, ex¬ 
cept bears, who need to live on both meat and vegetables, 
and have teeth fit for both kinds of food. In the very hot 
parts of the world, mankind can exist pretty well without 
flesh to eat and in the coldest climates, without vegetable 
diet, but in the temperate zones, man can hardly be heal¬ 
thy without meat to keep him warm and strong, and ve¬ 
getables which by their starch and gluten correct the 
oiliness of the meat, especially of fat meat. 
Do you wish to make acquaintance with the venerable fore 
father of most of our best vegetables. Then you must go 
to the sea coast, and look for a plant named BRASSICA 
with sea green wavy leaves, and a branched stem, bearing 
yellow blossoms, these flowers belong to the order called 
CRUCIFORM, or cross-shaped, because the four petals 
spread out from the deep and somewhat swelling calyx in 
the exact form of a Greek cross, veiling deeply within them 
four long and two short stamens, and a long thick pistil, 
with a cleft head already taking the form of the longpod 
or SILIQUE which it will become when the seeds are near¬ 
ly ripe. The plants of this kind are not Endogens, for 
though the stamens are six, the other parts go by fours 
and the stamens are always four long, and half four short, 
and besides the seeds are two celled, and put forth two 
leaves. It is an unvarying rule that every one of this 
cruciform race is wholesome; not one of them but may be 
eaten without fear: and in fact they seem to have been 
appointed as the great staple of vegetable diet in tempe¬ 
rate climes, for scarcely one is found in hot countries. A3 
such useful friends, we may pardon them for having little 
brilliancy to boast of, the flowers are always either white. 
