The Brookhaven leader., 1885-10-15
PLANTS THAT GO TO SLEEP.
Floral wonders Of sumatra and India
A botanical Clock.


"During journey In India" contin-
ued the botanist, Il made the acquaint-
ance 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 fect
across and twelve feet i'll circumference.
Well, this was the experience Of an
acquaintance in Sumatra, where some OF
the most remarkable creations Of tho
floral world arc found. This flower was
about all thcro was to the plant; roots,
steam, and everything seemed to havo
been sacrificed to make up tho enormous
flower, that weighed, no estimated,
fifteen pounds or nsore."
"The odor must have becn of several
horsepower" suggested tho listener.
$50 it was, was the reply; 80 strong,
overpowering, and offensive that 1t was
impossible to remain within close prox-
Unity to it. The central portion cOnsti-
tuted a cup that hell about two quarts Of
water, and as this was filed with insects,
dead and macerated, it mi, hG have been
the cause Of the odor. 1leso -antic
creations Of thu Vegetable wo | arc
comparatively rare; Only a few have been
seen, and mono brOui 1t to Europe. SOmo
of the plants that l ny iced had re-
markable faculty Of going 10 sleep, Just
about as We wou.l onr'elveS. OnD
large-leafed fern particularly attract ii
MY attention, as it grew at my dDor-
yard. IN tue daytime tho leaves wcro
upright, but as soon as no sin disap-
peared they became rraduaAy depressed,
and were soon completely closed up
actually fast asleep, only opening out
when tho sun rose next morning.
But l need not taio yoa y India to
SEQ plants asleep; many ct oar owl put
on tine night-cap. There is il reality no
direct analogy between the sl,"p CT
animals and plants, ony W, Lnow that
dlring the d3y tho leaves of some are in
| activity, anl at ri-ht they arc net;
hence W. assum, tnat they are at rest,
or sleeping. Take as an DE tho
acacia tree, OF wood sorr'nl, and whito
clover; compare tie POSITIONS Of their
| leaves during tho / hit AMI dcv. Tho
wood sorrsl rosemb ,s clover, each leave
having three heart shaped lobes con-
nectod to tho stalk IL slender stem.
Now in tho daytime they arc spread
out just as arc the clover leaves, but
W .ch them as night comes on, and you
NJ noti:e r"1ddal closing up.
| Finally each laaf WI. be found u havo
completely closed and fallen down, rest
ing on tho foot-stalS.
| Besides movements at NIGHT and
morning, many plants have notion
more or lass depend, 1T upon tho
weather. and many curious devices havo
been Suggested to utilize them in clocks,
barometerS, and 50 on. On this princi-
pie botanical clock HIS been maG,,
and that il is possible is cyi !on5 from tiIo
| fact that there is not IN hour in In, day
but what some plants blooms; thus
the purple c0nvClvulvus blooms at 2 a.
M; tho flor do MOTTO at or 4, tho goats
beard at 4, yellow Arcti, roopy at 5, tho
nipplewort at G, SOW th.,tlo at Z, no.
| lana at 8, red sandwort at 10, fy mari
gold af II, and 30 on, and lyIhus ar
ran%,0s these you surely hlvo timc-
piooe C nature.
A very fair weather indicator can bo
made Of tho iittlo caN8ules Ct Mcsscm-
bryanthcmum Tripo4ium ty placing
them in a dish Of water. If rain is
threatened the seed vessel cocrs Ike :
star, closing again when t.., shower Is
over; and number Of plants havo tAo
sama property.
Perhaps" said tho botanical arti>t,
"there is nothing that strikes ono 50 re-
m1rGably as tho rapid growth of soml
plants. I remember seeing a RI t in
Florida that appeared so suddenly | ,
MY window that l SPOKE to nv ho
about it, and remark i that h, hi been
plrntinc; but he ayerrcd that it h..l
grown Up in the night at least 70 t..
| It seemed lttl3 too much L., ia <
and the boan-stalk, but I measured TIA
pllnt and was finally convinced. This
is nothing, however, to the growth Of
some bamboos, that actually lcnrhtCn
three feet IN twonty-four hours. In fact,
tins facts Of botanical science arc as TO-
markabe asany i'm. ,ination would have
them, AM, curiously enough, somo CT
the old stories of Plant wonders that
were considered fables have been shown
to be founded on fact" Vow York
Post. f-s" ..