A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



But we perceive in this flower-clock yet another proof of the unity 

 and harmony of creation. Just as in a play not all the players appear 

 on the stage at the same time, so in Nature scene follows scene, and 

 in each two new protagonists encounter one another, whose charac- 

 teristics harmoniously complete one another, and who are mutually 

 dependent, although they belong to two different kingdoms. 



On my very first morning in Brazil, as I strolled about the monas- 

 tery garden in Olinda, overjoyed once more to see the tropical sun, 

 my attention was attracted to some small five-petalled violet bell- 

 flowers which were seated in the axils of their leaves. These little 

 flowers were so numerous that the ground all about me was blue 

 with them. I was called away, and decided to examine the plant 

 more closely in the afternoon, but then, to my surprise, all the 

 flowers had disappeared. Not until the next morning did I find 

 them again, and realize that they open only in the morning. The 

 Brazilians call the plant Fleabane, because fleas are supposed to 

 remain stuck on it, and it does actually exude a sticky substance 

 that gives a delicious odour of cedar oil. In August and September 

 the monastery garden was full of the delicate cedar-like fragrance, 

 and even on the monastery farm the air was aromatic with it, so that 

 it was delightful to stroll through the fragrant fields in the evening. 



A delicious little hyacinth, which is fond of blooming by the way- 

 side, conceals its tiny blue bells in the afternoon; and the sky-blue 

 flowers of the Commelina too disappear. This charming little plant 

 is as modest and lovable as our own Forget-me-not, and like the 

 latter, prefers a damp situation. The yellow stamens protrude from 

 a green capsule, which contains water, and beside them are two 

 stalked petals of the tenderest pale blue. I have already spoken of 

 the "Nine o'clock Bindweed." 



The nocturnal flowers are wonderful. They may be distinguished 

 by their whiteness, for gay colours cannot be seen in the dark ; only 

 white is luminous. Like our Honeysuckle and Soap wort, the nocturnal 

 flowers of the tropics exhale a particularly strong perfume ; in the 

 night the sense of smell must come to the help of the sense of sight ; 

 and the olfactory powers of the nocturnal insects, such as the Hawk- 

 moths, of which Brazil possesses some very large species, are very 

 strongly developed, while it seems to have been proved that these 

 insects are completely colour-blind. To correspond with the long 

 trunk of the Hawk-moth, the flowers that open by night are often 

 tubular in form, and have wide funnel-like orifices, so that the 

 insects can see at once whither they must fly. 

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