The Metamorphosis of Plants by J. W. v. Goethe Read Free Book Online

calyx, by uniting—around a common centre, and as a rule in definite number and order—many leaves and consequently many nodes which she would otherwise have produced one after the other and at some distance apart. If the flowering period had been retarded by the in-streaming of superfluous nourishment, the nodes and leaves would have appeared separated from one another in their original form. Nature, therefore, in forming the calyx creates no new organ, but simply combines and modifies the organs we already know, advancing in this way a step nearer her goal.

C HAPTER V
FORMATION OF THE COROLLA
39
    We have seen how the calyx is produced through the influence of refined juices gradually generated in the plant, and now the calyx itself is destined to become the organ of a future and further degree of refinement. We can believe this even if we explain its operation from a purely mechanical point of view. How tender and capable of the finest filtration must be the vessels which are so highly contracted and drawn together!
40
    The transition from the calyx to the corolla can be seen quite clearly, for although the calyx is usually green like the stem-leaves, it often shows a change in one part or another at the tips, the edges, the back or even over the inner surface, leaving the outer surface green. Also whenever this colouring occurs we see it combined with an increased refinement of texture. Thus there arise the calyces which we should be equally justified in regarding as corollas.
41
    We have observed from the seed-leaves (cotyledons) upward a process of great expansion and development of the leaves to the periphery, while in the transition to the calyx we see once more a contraction from the circumferance towards the centre. We now notice that the corolla is produced by yet another expansion. The petals are usually larger than the calyx-leaves or sepals. Even as the organs were contracted into the calyx, so do they now expand again into petals under the influence of the still more finely filtered juices which have passed through the calyx to appear in a highly refined state as new and quite different organs. Their delicate organisation, their colour and their scent would make it quite impossible to recognise their origin if we were not able to hearken to Nature as she speaks to us through her many vagrancies and abnormalities.
42
    Thus, for instance, inside the calyx of a carnation a second calyx is often found which on the one hand, inasmuch as part of it is quite green, reveals its tendency to become a one-leaved, incised calyx, while on the other hand it is tom and jagged and beginning at the tips and edges to expand and to become tinted like the real petals. Through this we clearly recognise the relationship between the corolla and the calyx.
43
    The relation of the corolla to the stem-leaves reveals itself in different ways. On many plants the stem-leaves are produced more or less coloured long before they approach the flowering state; in other cases they become completely coloured when they get near to the flower.
44
    Sometimes, too, Nature proceeds immediately to the corolla, omitting the calyx altogether and we are given the opportunity of observing the transformation of stem-leaves into petals. On tulip stalks, for example, an almost perfectly formed and coloured petal may sometimes be seen. Indeed it is even more remarkable when such a leaf, half green and half coloured, belongs with its green part to the stem and remains attached thereto, while its coloured part is carried up into the corolla so that the leaf is torn in two.
45
    It is a not unlikely opinion which would ascribe the colour and scent of the petals to the presence of the male seed within them. It may be there in an insufficiently separated state, combined with and diluted by other juices. The mani-
45
    fold and beautiful appearances of colour incline us to the thought that the substance contained in the petals, although it is in an extremely purified