AGES OF FLOWERS 



is the manner in which flowers fit in. They begin early in 

 the morning : one blossom opens out and then another ; all 

 endeavouring to catch the attention of some passing insect. 

 Allionia violacea opens at three or four a.m., and closes about 

 eleven or twelve. Some wild Roses open about four or 

 five in the morning, as well as the Chicory, Roemeria, etc. 

 Virginian Spiderwort, Dandelion, and Nightshade are ready 

 at six in the morning. A great many (Buttercups, White 

 Water Lily, etc.) are open by seven a.m. Most of these 

 early flowers are shut at noon. Others begin to close about 

 three or four in the afternoon. The regular evening moth- 

 flowers open about six p.m., though Cactus grandiflorus does 

 not open till nine or ten p.m., and closes at midnight.^ 

 Extraordinary as these variations seem, they are easily 

 explained. Some open early because there are then few 

 competitors. By far the greater number are open from nine 

 a.m. till one or two p.m., because those hours are the favourite 

 working time of most insects. 



Flowers live for very different periods. That of the Wheat 

 only lasts for fifteen or twenty minutes (its pollen is carried 

 by wind), and is then over. There are others. Hibiscus and 

 Calandrinia, which only remain open for three or four hours, 

 but a Foxglove will last six days, a Cyclamen ten days, 

 whilst Orchids may last for from thirty to eighty days 

 {Cypripedium villosum, seventy days, Odontoglossum Rossii, 

 eighty days). 



Thus the sun every day through the summer, as he calls 

 into life new swarms of insects, sees at every hour of the day 

 new flowers opening their petals to his genial warmth and 



^ Linnaeus and many others have made Floral Clocks. Kerner, 

 Natural History of Plants^ describes the opening and closing of flowers 

 very fully. 



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