IN SUNSHINE AND IN COLD 



one looks at them on a fine sunny day, every single blossom 

 will be widely opened and each will turn towards the 

 sun. 



In wet cold weather every blossom will hang its head and 

 be tightly closed up. Exactly the same may be observed 

 with the Dandelion, which is, indeed, still more sensitive 

 than the Coltsfoot. In cold wet weather it is so tightly 

 closed that it is barely possible to make out the yellow 

 colour of the flower, but on warm sunny days it opens wide : 

 every one of its florets drinks in as much as possible of the 

 genial sunshine. Both opening and closing are produced 

 by the warmth and light of the sun's rays. 



It is also the same with Pansies. On a fine day they 

 spread out widely, but in cold wet weather the heads hang 

 over and the whole flower shrinks together. 



Perhaps the most interesting of them all are the little 

 Woodsorrel and the Crocus. 



Both are exceedingly sensitive to sunlight, or rather to the 

 cold. A mere cloud passing over the sun on a fine spring 

 morning will close up the flowers of the Crocus. In cold 

 weather, if you bring one of its flowers indoors and put it 

 near a bright light it will open widely, sometimes in a few 

 minutes. 



What produces these changes ? It is very difficult to say, 

 but every change helps towards the general good of the 

 plant. In warm sunny weather insects are flying about, and 

 they can enter the flower if it is open. These insects help 

 in setting the seed (as we shall see in another chapter). In 

 cold wet weather the flowers are best closed, as the rain might 

 injure the florets and because also no insects are abroad. 



Both the Foxglove and the Blue Vetch ( Vicia Cracca) are 

 specially ingenious in their way of obtaining light. For the 



19 



