METEORIC FLOWERS. 



263 



above the horizon. In those blossoms which are 

 fully expanded in the night the duration of sleep is 

 shortest. Flowers which are fully expanded in the 

 morning open more rapidly than they close. Those 

 which open in the afternoon close more rapidly than 

 they open. For other facts relative to light, tempera- 



Fig. 42. — Scarlet Pimpernel {Anagaliis arvensis). 



ture, and other influences on the movements of 

 flowers, we must refer to the memoir from which 

 we have quoted. 



The pretty Areiiaria rubra, says Edwin Lees, that 

 opens its purple petals wide before the mid-day sun 

 closes them instantly as soon as plucked, or folds 



