THE FLOWERS OF BRAZIL 



fiery splendour is all the greater if one has just been wandering 

 through the forest of green cane. 



But now for the beauty and wealth of colour of the flowers them- 

 selves ! What variety of form is achieved by the same arrangement 

 of petals ! Here, erect as a taper, rises the honey-coloured, oily, 

 glistening inflorescence of the Cassia from the great pinnate leaves ; 

 there the Gentropogon bush is covered with great crimson bells ; and 

 crimson too are the racemes of the Calliandra, while between the 

 flowers the yet unopened buds are strung like coral beads. This shrub 

 is one of the Mimosas, as one may see by its finely pinnated leaves. 



Many flowers add to their effect by their expanse : for example, 

 the Victoria regia, whose flowers are as big as plates, and the 

 Aristolochia grandiflora, whose flowers are so large that children 

 at play wear them as caps. Others assemble themselves in umbels, 

 racemes, panicles and clusters, thereby enlarging the coloured area ; 

 for example, the trees of the Brazilian forests seem covered with 

 huge bouquets of flowers. Again, insects are often shown the way 

 to the nectaries by rings of colour. 



Flowers have devised yet other methods of permitting only 

 certain groups of visitors to reach their nectaries. Every flower has 

 its appointed season of blooming — that is, of giving access to its 

 interior — and this season always coincides with that of the insects 

 which are expected to fertilize it. Even the time of day plays its 

 part in the opening of the flowers. For the whole animal world does 

 not awaken simultaneously; each creature goes to its day's work 

 at its own appointed time. Every hour of the day some fresh species 

 of insect spreads its wings, until night falls, and the diurnal creatures 

 rest ; and then the moths begin to whir through the air. The flowers 

 have adjusted themselves to this gradual unfolding of life; they 

 remain closed until their appointed hour, and save their perfume 

 until their friends can come to them. Then only do they open, and 

 invite their guests with their coloured petals and far-flung fragrance. 

 The great Linnaeus was well aware of this peculiarity, and in the 

 botanical gardens of Upsala he made a "flower-clock" ; he planted 

 only species which open their petals at a certain hour, and close 

 them as punctually ; and so one could read the time by the flowers 

 which had just opened. Needless to say, the flower-clock was not 

 perfect, for the plants in question do not all flower at the same 

 time of the year. 



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