192 :©otani2 



until late in the afternoon. The beauty of the night 

 unfolds near sunset the cream-colored petals that 

 guard its purple heart ; the water-lilies unclose 

 at night, and shut their silver chalices by high 

 noon. Children have nicknamed the chicory " Miss 

 Go-to-bed-at-noon." The evening primrose never 

 opens until the sun is low; it sleeps by day and 

 wakens by night, loved of the moonlight, the whip- 

 poorwill, the nightingale, and the moth. Tulips 

 and marigolds will be found sound asleep by dark 

 and do not waken until the sun is high. 



The sleep of flowers rests the organs of growth ; it 

 serves also in the folding of leaf and blossom to 

 protect the plant from chill and to shelter the 

 stamens and pistils from the heavy dew. For some 

 plants the da3^-closing shuts out insects which might 

 injure them, and the night-waking calls night-flying 

 insects to distribute the pollen. 



Cloudiness or coming rain also cause many flowers 

 to close or to remain closed. Tulips remain fast 

 shut on rainy mornings ; were the large petals wide 

 open the flowers would be ruined. Marigolds, morn- 

 ing-glories and many other flowers refuse to unfold 

 unless the weather is fair. Plants are thus both 

 clocks and barometers. 



The trunk of the tree bears in its rings the story 

 of the years through which it has lived. The stalk 



