Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-18

sleep at regular hour every evening and
in summertime even by daylight right be-
lore our eyes and in a public park, has a
method quite his own in preparing himself
Tor the night His action is so apparent,
quick and curious that he deserves to be
noticed; In fact, it Is somewhat to be won
dered at that nobody ever noticed this
stranger and his strange action before-not
even the very alert Waterman and guard
ian OF the floral display of the park
THAT this tree is Of foreign extraction
all OF high lineage there Will be no need
OF telling when we lelrn that his name is
Aio.zzia Julibrissin, having been christen-
ed 50 by an Italian botanist by the name of
Durazzo in honor of a member of the most
cbie family of the Albizzi of Florence.
Wto probably had also been a botanist.
ne tree, however, is an original of Japan
era known there as the Japarese silk tree
ny II Is called silk tree is Lot known to
IRE writer, but the supposition is that the
SILKY appearance Of the blossoms might
1--we 1--we originated 1t. How this tree came
mere and found its way to Dupont Circle
PROBABLY only Colonel Bingham, as chief of
me pubic parks and grounds and custodian
vi the records and pedigrees of our exotic
trees, can tell.
Soon after o'clock in the eya,;,a ,,
erai motion Is noticed in the foliage a
9ulver or trembling of the bipinnate leaves
Eaeh leahet begins to stand up on edge
cl iae PAIRS aacS, win the one opposite. They
elasp each other tightly and then close up
with the other on the petiole, so that each
becomes coverlet over half Of the preced-
ing one. The entire transformation takea
p! p. IN aoout twenty minutes, and usually
at ABOUT $50 the respiratory organism nf
inns tree hangs limp or droopy on the
branches. 1t was at first supposed that the
approach of darkness or the humidity of
.he atmosphere, or even the change of
temperature, had something to do in NO
dacing sleepy-like condition in this free
out numerous experiments have proved
tnat II Is not so. Little branches have been
taheh OH and kept in a dark room at an
early hour. The leaves remained eyDanded
until the hour of Z, when they began to
ciose as II they were still on the tree and
the same action was repeated for several
Gays as long as water could keep them
fresh There is a plant among our avn
flora that is in every particular like iris
Sleeping tree; in fact, a diminutiye albiz-
zia In many ways. This is the sensitive
pea, Cassia Camaecrista, a weed growing
along our country lanes with yellow flow
ers and bearing fruit like ,li,ninutiva
peas. This little weed is, however. A SEN
SiiiVe plant, while the tree is not so in the
ieast. me former SHUTS lis leaflets when
touched at any hour of the day hui ar
night goes to sleep in the same fashion as
the latter. a.
AS We cannot obtain tree for home oh
scrFaton we might secure a healthy plant
OF this sensitive pea have il carefully
planted in a flower pot SO that We can
Walch 1t every evening when il retires for
the night. No one has more beautifullv
Geilneated with pen and pencil the action
Oh uroWsy shrubs and noddirg flowers than
our much lamented artist Mr. Hamilton
GIbsoa land he has done more to awaken
In our young people an interest in the many
wonders of plant life than the scientific
teachers CT botany. He has shown that
nature is not at fault that we do not more
admire our wild flowers. We find on close
investigation that there are plants that
nave histories wonderful as our charac-
ters OF romance. Their feats and accom-
many ordinary mortals
FRED ]. BRAENDLE,