The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-02-19
PLANTS THAT GO TO SLEEP. 4
Floral Wonders of sumatra and india
A Botanical Clock.

A Botanical Clock.
sDuring journey in India" contin-
ned the botanist, i made the acquaint-
ance Of 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,
steam, 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
horsepower" suggested the listener.
$50 it was, was the reply; $50 strong,
overpowering, and offensive that it was
impossible to remain within close prox-
unity to it. The central portion consti-
tuted cup that held about two quarts Of
water, and as this was filed with insects,
dead and macerated, it might havo been
the cause of the odor. These gigantic
creations Of the vegetable word arc
comparatively rare; only few have been
seen, and none brought to Europe Some
of the plants that l noticed had a re-
markable faculty of going to sleep, just
about as We would ourselves. Ono
large-leafed fern particularly attracted
my attention, as it grew at my door
yard. In the daytime tho leaves wero
upright, but as soon as the sun diSap-
peared they became gradually depressed,
and were soon completely closed up
actually fast asleep, only opening out
when tho sun rose next morning.
But need not tako you 10 India to
see plants asleep; many of our own put
OH the night-cap. There Is in reality no
direct analogy between the sleep oe
animals and plants, only we know that
during the day the leaves Of some are in
activity, and at night they are not {;
hence VIC assume that they are at rest,
or sleeping. Take as an example tho
acacia tree, or wood sorrel, and whito
clover; compare tho positions of their
leaves during tho night and day. Tho
wood sorrel resembles clover, each leave
having three heart-shaped lobes con-
nected to the stalk by slender stem.
Now in the daytime they are spread
out just as are tho clover leaves, but
watch them as night comes on, and you
will notice gradual closing up.
Finally each leaf viii be found to havo
completely closed and fallen down, rest
ing on tho foot-stalk.
Besides movements at night and
morning, many plants have motions
more or less dependent upon tho
weather, and many curious devices havo
been suggested to utilize them in clocks,
~, Al.
| pie a botanical clock has been made,
! and that it is possible is evident from tho
fact that there is not an hour in the day
but what some plants blooms; thus
| the purple convolvulvus blooms at 9 a.
m the flor de notte at or 4, tho goats
beard at 4, yellow Arctic poppy at 5, tho
nipplewort at g. SOW thistle at 2, no
| lana at 8, red sandwOrt at 10, fig mari
gold at II, and so on, and by thus ar
ranging these you surely have time
| piece of nature.
| "a very fair weather indicator can be
| made Of the little capsules of Messem-
bryanthemum Tripolium by placing
them in dish of water If rain is
threatened the seed vessel opens like 9
star, closing again when tho shower is
over; and a number of plants have the
same property.
Perhaps, said the botanical artist,
"there is nothing that strikes one so re
markably as the rapid growth of somc
plants. [ remember seeing a plot in
Florida that appeared so suddenly u
my window that l spoke to my hos
about it, and remarked that he had beer
planting; but he ayerred that it had
grown up in the night at least foot.
1t seemed a little too much like Jack
and the bean stalk, but I measured thS
plant and was finally convinced Thii
is nothing, however, to the growth O
some bamboos, that actually lenghter
three feet in twenty -four hours. In fact
the facts of botanical science arc as re
markable asany Imagination would hav,
them, and, curiously enough, some o
the old stories of plant wonders tina
were considered fables have been shown
to be founded on fact. New Yorl
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