FLOWEBS. 33 
leaflets arranged on both sides of a common midrib, 
often fold themselves together, and remain in a droop- 
ing posture, until the stimulating influence of the 
sun’s rays causes them again to expand. 
While, as has been observed, most flowers require 
the action of light to make them bloom, the ab- 
sence of light is not the only cause of their folding 
up. For although crocuses are so tenacious of their 
privilege of opening upon the first appearance of the 
sun, that it is quite easy to cheat them by bringing 
them near a lamp in the evening, yet many beautiful 
wild as well as cultivated flowers, regardless of the 
light, are closed by noonday. 
Florists act upon the sugges- 
tions of Nature in the manage- 
ment of their choice greenhouse 
plants; and while they expose 
them to the full glare of the sun 
in order to produce the bloom, 
they also observe that its conti- 
nued influence tends to hasten 
decay, by ripening too soon the 
pollen contained in the anthers, Thyssen tlle 
and consequently hastening the fertilizing of the 
seed; and as the flowers only last in perfection 
while this process is being accomplished, the period 
of blooming may be greatly prolonged by shading 
them from the direct rays of the sun. If, then, the 
half-opened flower be kept in a sort of twilight by 
means of canvas or paper shades, the pollen does not 
C 
