Psyche; or, The Romance of Nature [pp. 464-476]

466 PSYChE; OR, T6iE ROMANCE OF NATURE. [Jan.,
trees, tbey enclose the seed in a hard, indigestible covering, and
that again in an envelope which is sweet and succulent. The
object of Nature is evident; the proof is in the fact that there
were no apples, pears, plums, or peaches before the miocefle (tertiary) period-that is, before the animals appeared that feed upon
them.
"So the plant makes a compromise, like a merchant fallen
among thieves, who sacrifices a portion of his goods to save the
rest. Sometimes the merchant hides his treasures under paltry
coverings, or lie arms himself to the teeth and puts on a threatening aspect. As specimens of this we all recognize walnuts and
chestnuts."
But to return to our sheep, or rather to our elms. You ask
if these great tre~s have had time to blossom, bear fruit, and bring
it to maturity before the leaves unfold, so early in the spring, in
spite of the frosts and hailstorms of March.
Certainly; and if you had noticed the trees in question in your
walks on the boulevard, you would have remarked the eccentric
fashion in which they array themselves, before any verdure appears, in a reddish-brown peruke, which really consists of bunches
of flowers. Are you surprised? Nothing is more common
among the trees of this region than this mode of precocious
propagation.
The ground of our, public walks is strewn in spring with all
sorts of catkins. These catkins, surrounded at the base with two
glutinous scales, are flower-spikes that have accomplished their
work of fertilization and detached themselves voluntarily from
the tree.
But do not misunderstand me. You must notice one distinction of which casual observers, unacquainted with botany,
have very inexact ideas. Catkins which fall and are lost in the
dust do not always bring the fruit with them, like these first
spoils of the elm, because there is a radical difference in their organic structure.
With a simple lens, or even with the naked eye, we easily
recognize in the elm-blossom the union of fertilizing and fertilized
organs in the centre of one and the same envelope and upon the
same axis. This is called an hermaphrodite flower.
~Vhen the axis is detached the seed of the elm must necessarily fall; therefore it makes baste to grow and ripen before leaving the branch that gives it sap and life. With most of our forest trees this haste is not necessary, and so their fruit ripens at
its leisure and drops off later, sometimes in the form of catkins,