originated from the Liber or inner bark, as the Calyx from the outer, but this cannot be defended now the real physiology of the bark is better understood.
The whole use and physiology of the Corolla have not yet been fully explained. As a protection to the tender and important parts within, especially from wet, its use in many cases is obvious, but by no means in all. Linnæus imagined it to serve as wings, to waft the flower up and down in the air, and so to promote the functions of the Stamens and Pistils, as will hereafter by described; nor is this opinion unfounded.
Sprengel has ingeniously demonstrated, in some hundreds of instances, how the Corolla serves as an attraction to insects, indicating by various marks, sometimes perhaps by its scent, where they may find honey, and accommodating them with a convenient resting-place or shelter while they extract it. This elegant and ingenious theory receives confirmation from almost every flower we examine. Proud man is disposed to think that
because he has not deigned to explore it;
