The Brookhaven Leader

PLANTS THAT GO TO SLEEP.
Floral Wonders of Sumatra and India—A Botanical Clock.

"During a journey in India," continued the botanist, "I made the acquaintance of a number of flowers, and some of exceeding interest. What would you think now of riding along through the wood and coming upon a flower that offered a fair jump for your horse—in other words, was three or four feet across and twelve feet in circumference. Well, this was the experience of an acquaintance in Sumatra, where some of the most remarkable creations of the floral world are found. This flower was about all there was to the plant; roots, stem, and everything seemed to have been sacrificed to make up the enormous flower, that weighed, he estimated, fifteen pounds or more.

"The odor must have been of several horse-power," suggested the listener.

"So it was," was the reply; "so strong, overpowering, and offensive that it was impossible to remain within close proximity to it. The central portion constituted a cup that held about two quarts of water, and as this was filled with insects, dead and macerated, it might have been the cause of the odor. These gigantic creations of the vegetable world are comparatively rare; only a few have been seen, and none brought to Europe. Some of the plants that I noticed had a remarkable faculty of going to sleep, just about as we would ourselves. One large-leafed fern particularly attracted my attention, as it grew at my door yard. In the daytime the leaves were upright, but as soon as the sun disappeared they became gradually depressed, and were soon completely closed up—actually fast asleep, only opening out when the sun rose next morning.

"But I need not take you to India to see plants asleep; many of our own put on the night-cap. There is in reality no direct analogy between the sleep of animals and plants, only we know that during the day the leaves of some are in activity, and at night they are not; hence we assume that they are at rest, or sleeping. Take as an example the acacia tree, or wood sorrel, and white clover; compare the positions of their leaves during the night and day. The wood sorrel resembles clover, each leaf having three heart-shaped lobes connected to the stalk by a slender stem. Now in the daytime they are spread out just as are the clover leaves, but watch them as night comes on, and you will notice a gradual closing up. Finally each leaf will be found to have completely closed and fallen down, resting on the foot-stalk.

Besides movements at night and morning, many plants have motion more or less dependent upon the weather, and many curious devices have been suggested to utilize them in clocks, barometers, and so on. On this principle a botanical clock has been made, and that it is possible is evident from the fact that there is not an hour in the day but what some plant blooms; thus the purple convolvulus blooms at 2 a.m.; the fior d'notte at 3 or 4, the goat's beard at 4, yellow arctotis poppy at 5, the nipplewort at 6, sow thistle at 7, nolan at 9, red sundew at 10, fox marigold at 1, and so on, and amongst these you surely have a time piece accurate.

"A very fair weather indicator can be made of the little capsules of Mesembryanthemum Tripolium by placing them in a dish of water. If rain is threatened the seed vessel opens like a star, closing again when the shower is over; and a number of plants have the same property.

"Perhaps," said the botanical artist, "there is nothing that strikes one so remarkably as the rapid growth of some plants. I remember seeing a plant in Florida that appeared so suddenly in my window that I spoke to my host about it, and remarked that it had been planting; but he averred that it had grown up in the night at least a foot. It seemed a little too much like Jack and the bean-stalk, but I measured the plant and was finally convinced. This is nothing, however, to the growth of some bamboos, that actually lengthen three feet in twenty-four hours. In fact, the facts of botanical science are as remarkable as any imagination would have them, and, curiously enough, some of the old stories of plant wonders that were considered fables have been shown to be founded on fact." —New York Post.