GOETHE ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PLANTS. 11 
41. We remarked that from the seed-leaves upwards a great deve- 
lopment takes place both in the size and form of the leaves, especially 
in their margins ; and that a subsequent diminution of their size occurs 
in the calyx ; we have now to observe a second act of expansion, by 
which the corolla is produced. The flower-leaves (petals) are usually 
larger than the calyx-leaves (sepals) ; and it is to be remarked that as 
a contraction of the organs oceurs in the calyx, so (having been in a 
high degree refined by means of a farther filtrationof the fluids in passing” | 
through the calyx) they again expand in the form of petals, and assume | 
the appearance of entirely new and distinct organs. Their delicate or- 
ganization, their colour, and their scent would make it impossible to 
recognize their origin, if we had not frequent opportunities of stealthily 
observing nature when departing from her general rule. 
42. Thus, for instance, within the calyx (epicalyx) of a Pink, a second | 
calyx is often found, which being partly green was to all appearance | 
originally designed for a monosepalous notched calyx; but its jagged 
tips and edges, transformed into incipient and spreading petals, betray | 
both by their eolour and texture the relationship that exists between | 
the corolla and the calyx. | 
43. The relationship of the corolla to the stem-leaves is also shown 
in different ways ; for stem-leaves already more or less coloured may be 
seen on many plants, far below the inflorescence; those nearest to it i 
being coloured throughout.* | | 
44. Those instances also in which nature, as it were, altogether i 
omits the calyx,f afford additional opportunities of observing the 
transformation of the stem-leaves into petals. On the stalks of tulips, 
for example, a coloured petal almost perfect in form may often be 
seen. ‘The case is even more remarkable when a leaf, half-green and 
half coloured, remains attached to the stem by the green part, as more 
properly belonging to it, whilst the coloured portion is carried up with 
the corolla ; so that the leaf is literally torn asunder.t 
* The brightly coloured bracts in some of the species of Salvia, Euphorbia, 
Poinsettia, ete., afford good illustrations of the facts mentioned in this paragraph. 
We have also seen several instances where the involucre of the garden Anemone had 
assumed as brilliant a crimson colour as the calyx itself. 
+ Where but one whorl exists on the outside of the stamens or pistils, that one is 
called a calyx, irrespective of its colour, ‘The term perianthꝰ is applied in some cases 
where it is dificult to distinguish the calyx from the corolla. 
t Prolepsis, $ 7. Instances of the substitution of ordinary leaves for petals in 
Roses, in Clover, and other plants, are not uncommon. We have seen such in Pe- 
tunias, Lychnis, ete. Sce Moquin-Tandon, * Tératologie Végétale, pp. 203-7 aud 230. 

