_GLIMPSES INTO PLANT-LIFE_
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR._
=WILD NATURE WON BY KINDNESS.= Illustrated. Seventh and Revised
Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.
“We have no space to draw particular attention to the multitude of good
things to be found in this cheerful and unaffected little book, from
every page of which there breathes a sincerity which is necessary to
the enjoyment of such stories as these.”—_Saturday Review._
“The book is one which may be warmly recommended for the simplicity
with which it is written and the power of observation which it
displays.”—_Athenæum._
=MORE ABOUT WILD NATURE.= With Illustrations by the Author. Third
Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.
“No better book can be given to juvenile naturalists.”—_Graphic._
“When this delightful book, full of observation, of tenderness, and of
humour, has been read, it becomes a friend, to be visited often and
cherished much.”—_World._
=INMATES OF MY HOUSE AND GARDEN.= Illustrated by +Theo. Carreras+.
Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d.
“This is a charming book, and prettily illustrated.”—_Spectator._
“A charming series of sketches.”—_Times._
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
[Illustration: NEPENTHES RAFFLESIANA.]
GLIMPSES
INTO PLANT-LIFE
_AN EASY GUIDE TO THE STUDY
OF BOTANY_
BY
MRS. BRIGHTWEN, F.E.S.
_Author of “Wild Nature Won by Kindness,” &c._
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR AND
THEO. CARRERAS
London
T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1897
[_All rights reserved._]
To
SIR JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER,
K.C.S.I., P.P.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D., ETC.,
_Formerly Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew_.
+Dear Sir Joseph Hooker+,—
In conversation with you I have often been impressed by your conviction
of the importance of inducing young people to observe the elementary
facts of botany, and I have heard you express your admiration of the
efforts made in this direction, in an earlier generation, by that
distinguished botanist, Prof. Henslow. You have assured me of your
sense of the value of independent observations made by young students,
for themselves, in the simplest and clearest language.
By your own example the studies of beginners have often been led in
this direction, but in this little book, which I have ventured to
produce, and of which you have kindly accepted the dedication, I have
not attempted to compete with even your least ambitious flights.
All I have endeavoured to do is to prepare the minds of young people
for the study of botany by explaining in the simplest language some of
the elementary phenomena of plant-life. It is an humble experiment, but
made, as I believe, on lines which are novel so far as they go, and
essentially practical.
If, as is too likely to be the case, I have fallen into any technical
errors, your good nature must not be held responsible for my fault.
Believe me to be,
Yours very sincerely,
ELIZA BRIGHTWEN.
_April, 1897._
⁂ _The greater portion of this work has
appeared in serial form in “The
Girl’s Own Paper.”_
PREFACE
When I was a young girl I can well remember how much I longed for some
simple book that would help me to learn, not merely the name of a
plant and what class and order it belonged to, but something about its
life-history.
It seemed very wonderful that, if I put seeds into the ground, dry and
dead as they looked, I might feel sure young plants would presently
come up; that, if I planted an acorn, a young oak-tree would in due
time be seen; but how all this came to pass I could not discover. I
had access to an excellent library, but although I searched there hour
after hour, and found many a learned book about plants, they might
as well have been written in Sanskrit for all I could understand of
their scientific pages. There seemed nothing suited to the mind of
a thoughtful child, and although, since that long-ago time, endless
books have been written for young readers and thinkers, delightful
books, too, which meet the needs of those who desire information and
instruction, I have not hitherto met with one that makes the careful
study of plant-life really interesting and practicable for those young
people who may not have a teacher to help them in their study.
It has been my aim in the little volume I now venture to send forth to
my young friends, known and unknown, to supply this deficiency. I want
to enable them to share the joy of spending hours in a garden learning
to understand the structure of plants. I want to make them able, when
they see a bud, or a root, or a twig, to know what the history of that
object is, how it comes to have the shape it takes, how it developed
into its present condition, and what its next form will be.
The possession of the simple facts which I have tried to make plain to
every intelligence in the following pages will turn a country walk
from a useless lounge into a lively object-lesson, delightful, from
beginning to end, alike to teacher and taught. Nor will I apologise
for the simple language which I have used, for my design has been,
while taking advantage of all the latest discoveries of science, to
use no terms and introduce no ideas which cannot be made intelligible
to a thoughtful child. In the hope that even so humble an effort as
this may not be without a use in enlarging and quickening a sense of
that infinite harmony which runs through every part of the Creator’s
marvellous plan of nature, I put forth, not without a full sense of its
inadequacy, this little volume. It has, at any rate, given me an excuse
for endless hours of pleasure within the precincts of my own woods and
garden.
I have to acknowledge great indebtedness to Mr. J. W. Odell, F.R.H.S.,
whose wide knowledge of botanical science has been of essential service
in ensuring, as far as possible, the accuracy of my statements.
ELIZA BRIGHTWEN.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
+Adaptation+ 25
Plant collections—General view of vegetable growth—
Lowest forms of plant life—Water buttercup—Vallisneria—
Water-lily—Mare’s-tail—Sea-weeds—Cacti—Orchids—Tillandsia—Seed
dispersion.